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+--- Thread: Vizio to pay FTC for secretly collecting data on customers (/showthread.php?tid=201428)
Vizio to pay FTC for secretly collecting data on customers - pRICE cUBE - 02-07-2017
http://gizmodo.com/tv-maker-vizio-to-pay-out-millions-after-secretly-colle-1792056140
The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it has reached a settlement with Vizio, which it alleged misled customers about what data its smart TVs were collecting. Vizio agreed to pay $2.2 million in penalties, including $1.5 million to the FTC and $1 million to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, with $300,000 suspended.
The lawsuit centered on Vizio’s “Smart Interactivity” feature, which the company said “enables program offers and suggestions.” That sounds great! I love offers and suggestions, as do my friends and family!
But that wasn’t really what was happening. According to the complaint, Vizio began tracking consumers’ data in February 2014, on both new and old TVs. The “Smart Interactivity” feature was a cover for a technology called ACR, which tracks viewing data “second-by-second,” while the TV settings offered no explanation about what that feature was actually doing.
The biggest privacy concern surrounding this practice is that the tracked data included IP addresses. This information, passed through a “data aggregator,” enabled advertisers to track your behavior across devices, which in turn allowed advertisers to see, for example, “whether a consumer ha[d] viewed a particular television program following exposure to an online advertisement for that program.”
Re: Vizio to pay FTC for secretly collecting data on customers - NewtonMP2100 - 02-07-2017
......see this happening with everything....as tech gets better.....all companies can track you....whether it is google through your gmail/google searches......etc......
....need to get off the grid.....
Re: Vizio to pay FTC for secretly collecting data on customers - GuyGene - 02-07-2017
Okay, I won't buy a Vizio TV then. There. Take that.
Re: Vizio to pay FTC for secretly collecting data on customers - cbelt3 - 02-07-2017
Oh ! You collected data illegally on your customers and sold their information to advertisers without their consent. How much did you get from the advertisers ? How many TV's did you sell ?
Great. Take the gross revenue from the advertisers, divide by the number of TV's you sold, and send a check to every single person who owned one of these spy TV's. NOW.
Re: Vizio to pay FTC for secretly collecting data on customers - OWC Jamie - 02-07-2017
This is the future.
Damn, this is now.
Re: Vizio to pay FTC for secretly collecting data on customers - Blankity Blank - 02-07-2017
cbelt3 wrote:I'd say the donkey needs a bigger clue stick. Treble damages. Leave a mark Francis won't soon forget.
Oh ! You collected data illegally on your customers and sold their information to advertisers without their consent. How much did you get from the advertisers ? How many TV's did you sell ?
Great. Take the gross revenue from the advertisers, divide by the number of TV's you sold, and send a check to every single person who owned one of these spy TV's. NOW.
Re: Vizio to pay FTC for secretly collecting data on customers - cbelt3 - 02-07-2017
Blank... I would expect the costs even at base rate would probably exceed their profit margin on manufacture. AND kill their acquisition by Le Eco.. which is struggling anyway.