Oh dear, it must be a slow news week. Here we are, back again, with the reruns of Smart TV privacy concerns and the news media causing panic as usual for the past 5 years. "Quick hun, turn the TV off! The FBI is warning that hackers are spying on everyone! It's on the news!" OMG! Run to the Apocalypse bunker! C'mon people, lets be a little smarter than our dumb TV's.
While, yes, technically it is possible that a hacker can take control of your unsecured Smart TV and change channels on you and crank your volume up, or launch your YouTube app and play some suggestive content, it's really not happening as much as the media makes it out to be... hackers have more important things to do like stealing your banking credentials and personal identity. Now, if you have a camera and microphone connected to your TV, yes, it is possible for them to view or listen through them ONLY IF you downloaded a virus laden TV app containing this remote capability. And if you are panicking about this....well stop it! If you wan't to be slightly concerned about your tech, be concerned about the information the TV manufacturer is collecting about you. But if you like to worry further, panic about your home network or your laptop or smartphone - that is the real hacker threat.
Amazingly, I have the simplest resolve to all these worries. You no longer have to worry about any viruses, hackers, identity theft, or any Internet threats if you follow this one simple procedure. Disconnect everything that connects to the Internet, throw it away, and go live off-grid in a hole somewhere in the woods. Problem solved. If you can't do that, then you need to be a little smarter and a little bit more aware.
Everything through the Internet is collecting information about you. Ever be freaked out that after searching for something on Google, like how to make the best meatloaf, or how to setup your new Ikea furniture, and suddenly all the advertising you see on Facebook or other apps/sites is completely related to those very things? That's right, they are collecting your information on how you are using products, apps and the Internet, and displaying personalized advertising to you. It is all about the almighty dollar! And your Smart TV is no exception.
Advertising and tailoring a personal experience for you to "make things easy and convenient" goes hand-in-hand with technology just in hopes that you spend more of your hard earned money. But, for the most part, this agreement to release this personal information to the providers and manufacturers is completely controlled by you. In the settings in your browser, computer, software, apps and Smart TV there are user agreements and settings that you can turn off and not agree to the release of this collection of information. However, it just may limit your abilities to use the product fully. Here is a screen-cap below of my Smart TV's agreements section:
As you can see, I have agreed to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy (otherwise I can't use the TV at all) but I do not agree to them collecting information on my use of the TV, recorded voice (for voice activated features) or personalized advertising. I strongly suggest to all of you that you do the same if you are worried that they are spying on you. But, if there is a feature of the TV that you want to use and it requires you to agree further to these agreements, then you will have to agree if you want to use the service. Plain and simple. Now, lets also keep in mind that this request for information is not to cause you some type
of harm, or spy on you, or solely for the purpose of advertising, they also request this in order get a better idea of how their product or service are used by the public. Based on this information, they develop updates or further products that enhance or improve these heavily used features. They want you to stay with using their products so they want to make it the best experience for you. So, don't be scared to enable these. I personally don't use the features on the TV that pertain to these agreements so, as I don't use them, I don't agree to them collecting this information - there is no point. For example, I don't use the Voice Recognition software on the TV (I use a different device for that). But to use the feature, I have to agree to them collecting on how I use it, or certain recordings of my voice, so that they can learn on how to improve their voice recognition software and make it more accurate for users. They are not doing it to listen to your conversations and have a good laugh in the lunch room. As mentioned earlier, there is a possible threat that a hacker can access your TV. But, there has to be some negligence on your part to allow this type of activity. The App content Stores that your TV's use to find apps, for the most part, are not as heavily guarded against malicious programs or other threats. Therefore, if you download and use an app you know nothing about, it could very well contain malicious code and make your TV susceptible to hacker activity to, not only the Smart TV, but, to other devices you may have connected to the same network. So, be smart. Only use apps from developers that you know are trustworthy. If you are unsure, then do your research about the app.
If you are connecting your TV through your home WiFi network then your negligence of having an unsecured wireless network or a network protected with a very weak password (like password123), then again, your television along with your entire home network is susceptible to malicious activity. Use strong, industry standard, passwords to prevent this risk and don't cheap out on a WiFi router either. Get a good, solid secure router that has many security features to help block incoming or network-wide threats (we'll touch on this in separate posts).
If you are concerned about the camera, that you have attached to your Smart TV for gaming or video chat, then, again, following the above precautions for your network and app downloads will stop it from being used as a spy device. There should also be a setting in your software that turns this device off when not in use. This also goes for your laptop and smartphone. Or if you are that paranoid and haven't taken any of my above suggestions, then put a piece of coloured tape over the lens if it gives you a sense of security.
All reward has risks. It's how you limit those risks and take preventative measures to ensure you are not susceptible to these risks. And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to do it. It just takes a little common sense. There is no full-proof method to stop risks in today's technological world, other than the living in a hole method I stated earlier, but you can mitigate these risks. And if you are unsure, ask. Do some research. Don't setup your network or connected devices willy-nilly. Protect your connected devices and you will reap the reward of technology worry-free. That's my point of view anyway. Be safe people... but let's no panic either.
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