The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Samsung Internet of Things

Samsung warns third-party apps can listen in through its smart TVs

Author

By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

February 9, 2015 | 2 min read

Samsung has warned that third-party apps can capture sensitive data disclosed during conversations nearby its smart TVs via the voice recognition feature.

The Korean firm stated that its always-on voice recognition tool listens to every conversation held near the device in a bid to register commands, adding this feature could be abused by third-party apps on the TVs.

An updated Samsung privacy policy read: “If you enable voice recognition, you can interact with your Smart TV using your voice. Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party.”

Samsung also washed its hands of third-party apps claiming it “is not responsible for these providers’ privacy or security practices,” adding that users should “exercise caution and review the privacy statements applicable to the third-party websites and services”.

The firm’s flagship smart TVs also come with a mounted camera for gesture-based controls, however the firm only receives data on how often these features are used.

Similarly, the camera can also grant users access to facial recognition security whereupon the facial data will be stored locally on the TV rather than on Samsung’s central servers.

Samsung Internet of Things

More from Samsung

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +