Amazon, Apple, Google, LG, Roku, Samsung and TCL Address TV Privacy Concerns
TV makers including Amazon, Apple, Google, LG, Roku, Samsung and TCL answered questions about microphones, viewing data and privacy controls. Their responses vary, and a study found that some TVs continued sending data after users opted out of tracking.
Amazon, Apple, Google, LG, Roku, Samsung and TCL have answered questions about how their TVs and streaming devices handle microphones and viewing data, as concerns about your TVs spying you grow.
The companies’ responses address whether devices listen at home, store audio and collect information about what people watch. Some companies declined to answer directly, while Hisense did not respond to the questions.
Microphone controls vary
Amazon said Fire TV voice remotes only work when a user presses the microphone button. On televisions with hands-free Alexa, the devices are designed to detect the wake word before connecting to Alexa, the company said.
“No audio is stored or sent to the cloud unless the device detects the wake word,” Amazon said. It added that Fire TV televisions with microphones have a physical button or switch to disable them.
Apple said Apple TV 4K uses its far-field microphones and Always On Processor to listen for the Siri wake word. The company said users can turn off the wake word or disable Siri entirely.
The companies received 17 yes-or-no questions, including whether their devices store recorded audio or transcripts captured in a home. The questions were designed to get direct answers rather than links to privacy policies.
Viewing data and opt-outs
Many TVs use automatic content recognition, or ACR, to identify what viewers watch. Companies can use that information for targeted advertising, audience measurement and recommendations, according to the responses.
Users can generally turn off ACR, even after accepting it during setup. However, a Northeastern University study found that Walmart’s Vizio continued sending data after an opt-out. Vizio described the data as “routine operational data used to support the Vizio experience,” rather than ACR.
The study also found that data traffic from Samsung and Roku devices was limited after users opted out, but did not stop completely. Those findings raise questions about what privacy controls actually prevent.
The companies approached included Amazon, Apple, Google, Hisense, LG, Panasonic, Roku, Samsung, Sony, TCL and Walmart’s Vizio. Responses came from the three largest TV manufacturers and major streaming-device companies, while some firms declined to answer questions directly.
TV makers said some data collection is opt-in and that users can often opt out. The answers and the study findings offer consumers different accounts of how those controls work in practice.
