![]() But Consumer Reports is planning to include privacy and security test results in a number of products' Overall Scores in the future.įor our security assessment we worked with engineers at Disconnect, which makes privacy-enhancing software for consumers and is one of CR's partners in developing the Digital Standard. We didn't incorporate our privacy and security findings into the Consumer Reports ratings of these televisions, and all these sets except the TCL are recommended models. And the Vizio P55-E1 SmartCast TV we tested uses Chromecast, another Google platform. ![]() The Sony XBR-49X800E uses a version of Google's Android TV, a platform also found in sets from LeEco and Sharp. The TCL 55P605 uses the Roku platform, which is also found in Hisense, Insignia, and other brands. ![]() The other sets make use of smart-TV platforms that are incorporated into multiple brands. The Samsung UN49MU8000 incorporates the company's Tizen system, and the LG 49UJ7700 uses LG's webOS system. As we do for all products involved in CR's testing program, we bought our samples through regular retail outlets.Įach set we bought used a different smart-TV platform. We purchased five smart TVs from the most widely sold TV brands in the U.S. In a recent Consumer Reports subscriber survey of 38,000 smart-TV owners, 51 percent were at least somewhat worried about the privacy implications of smart TVs and 62 percent were at least somewhat worried about the sets' security practices. Companies such as LG and Samsung have recently shown off sets with built-in digital assistants that let you control other smart-home devices ranging from thermostats to security cameras to washing machines to smart speakers. "But I don't think a lot of people expect their television to be watching what they do."Īnd manufacturers are aiming to make smart TVs the centerpiece of consumers' increasingly connected homes. ![]() "For years, consumers have had their behavior tracked when they're online or using their smartphones," Brookman says. The FTC has now made it clear that companies need your permission before collecting viewing data-but consumers may not understand the details, says Justin Brookman, director of privacy and technology at Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization division of Consumer Reports. The company settled with the Federal Trade Commission for $1.5 million and the state of New Jersey for $700,000. In 2017 Vizio got in trouble with federal and state regulators for collecting this kind of data without users' knowledge or consent. For instance, if you're watching a particular sports event, you could see an online advertisement from a brand interested in reaching fans of that sport. That viewing information can be combined with other consumer information and used for targeted advertising, not only on your TV but also on mobile phones and computers. Smart TVs can identify every show you watch using a technology called automatic content recognition, or ACR, which we first reported on in 2015. Internet connectivity brings a lot of appealing functionality to modern televisions-including the ability to stream content through popular apps such as Hulu and Netflix, as well as to find content quickly using voice commands.īut that functionality comes with substantial data collection. Eighty-two million of these sets have already found their way to consumers. According to market research firm IHS Markit, 69 percent of all new sets shipped in North America in 2017 were internet-capable, and the percentage is set to rise in 2018. Smart TVs represent the lion's share of new televisions. But they have to give up a lot of the TVs' functionality-and know the right buttons to click and settings to look for. The testing also found that all these TVs raised privacy concerns by collecting very detailed information on their users. The findings were part of a broad privacy and security evaluation, led by Consumer Reports, of smart TVs from top brands that also included LG, Sony, and Vizio. (These vulnerabilities would not allow a hacker to spy on the user or steal information.) This could be done over the web, from thousands of miles away. We found that a relatively unsophisticated hacker could change channels, play offensive content, or crank up the volume, which might be deeply unsettling to someone who didn't understand what was happening. The problems affect Samsung televisions, along with models made by TCL and other brands that use the Roku TV smart-TV platform, as well as streaming devices such as the Roku Ultra. Consumer Reports has found that millions of smart TVs can be controlled by hackers exploiting easy-to-find security flaws.
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