Campaigns Can Now See What You Watch on TV.
Campaigns Can Now See What You Watch on TV.
Smart TVs that track what people watch and how they watch it give political campaigns a new trove of data to exploit, with little transparency on how it’s happening.
Televisions that can stream platforms like Hulu or Max usually come loaded with technology that collects information on what viewers are watching, and buyers consent to have their viewing tracked when they open their new TV and click through terms of service agreements. Sometimes, data firms can connect those viewing habits to a voter’s phone or laptop via their IP address, promising a trove of information about an individual and the ability to track them across screens.
Other times, firms focus on dividing households into groups based on what they’re watching, how they use their TVs and how many campaign ads they’re seeing, which is a boon to political campaigns eager to target specific groups of voters. Connecting this data to voter files is increasingly a focus — a move that adds individual voting habits into the mix.
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I Chromecast content from my computer and phone.
If I don't watch/stream stuff otherwise, and my TV isn't connected to anything else I'm aware of, is my data being exfiltrated? It's a Sony from ~2015
Probably safe to assume that the streaming app on your phone is collecting the same data about your viewing habits, whether or not you Chromecast it to another device.
Sure, the apps are recording all of that, my question is around my TV
Some TVs have tech called ACR (Automatic Content Recognition) that literally reads pixels on the screen for identifying information about what content is being displayed. If your TV has ACR enabled, it's possible it's tracking what you watch, even if you're viewing it through a device like Chromecast.
If your TV doesn't have ACR or the TV itself isn't connected to the Internet, then you're probably fine.