Streaming TV Industry Snooping Viewers on a Grand Scale: RPT

The streaming television industry has been accused of operating a vast data-driven surveillance apparatus that is transforming TVs into sophisticated monitoring, tracking and targeting devices.

In a 48-page report published Monday, Washington, DC-based Dr Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) outlined how the connected TV (CTV) industry collects and collects information on individuals and households through a sophisticated and pervasive commercial surveillance system, including many intentional data collection, monitoring and targeting practices that have long undermined privacy and consumers. . Online protection.

“CTV just replicated the commercial online surveillance ecosystem,” said CDD Executive Director Jeffrey Chester, who led the Kathryn C. Co-authored the report with Montgomery.

“They’ve rehashed the original sins they committed over and over again online,” he told TechNewsWorld. “They are now working with data brokers. They are working with adtech companies. They are working with measurement companies. So there’s this multi-layered, connected television surveillance system that no one person can really address.”

“It’s become a privacy nightmare because it’s happening across the television system, and regulators haven’t really done anything about it,” he added.

Creation of confidential digital dossiers

Leading streaming video programming networks, CTV device companies and “smart” TV manufacturers in alliance with the country’s most powerful data brokers are creating massive digital dossiers on viewers based on a person’s identity information, viewing preferences, viewing habits, the report said. Shopping patterns and thousands of online and offline behaviors.

It also maintains that surveillance is built right into television sets, with smart TVs from major manufacturers deploying Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) and other monitoring software to capture a vast, highly granular and intimate amount of information that, when combined with contemporary identity technology, is a unique viewership. Enables level tracking and ad targeting.

“People watch TV in the privacy of their own homes and have a reasonable expectation that no one is watching them,” said Jacob Hoffman-Andrews, a senior staff technologist. Electronic Frontier FoundationAn international nonprofit digital rights group based in San Francisco

“The trend of building surveillance into all new smart TVs is incredibly invasive and poorly understood,” he told TechNewsWorld “When people buy a device, they expect the device to meet their needs, not the manufacturer’s wishes. Nobody wants a snooping and hijacking television, but these days, that’s all you can buy.”

Looking for a problem to solve

Rob Enderle, President and Chief Analyst Enderle GroupAn advisory services firm in Bend, Ore., noted that while the report highlights the potential for problems, it does not provide any hard evidence of wrongdoing.

In addition, he continues to use the information he collects to create more effective advertising or better programming, which is accepted as a tradeoff for better programming and ads that users talk to.

“There’s not a lot of substance here, and the user should be asking if they’re okay with it before making assumptions,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Too often, we try to fix ‘problems’ that aren’t problems at all for the people affected by them, so care must be taken to ensure the remedy is what people want to fix. Good programming and advertising is not a problem for most users.”

The report also notes that CTV has unveiled a powerful arsenal of interactive advertising techniques, including virtual product placement inserted into programming and changing in real time. Generative AI enables marketers to create thousands of instant “hypertargeted variations” that are personalized to individual audiences, it added.

“A major pain point of ad-based streaming is when the ad repeats too many times or viewers don’t find the ad relevant to them,” explained Sarah Lee, a research analyst at Park AssociatesA market research and consulting firm specializing in consumer technology products in Addison, Texas

“Only 29% of ad-based streaming viewers think the ads they see are for products and services relevant to them,” he told TechNewsWorld. “CTV players are working on features that extensively use AI to align ads with household preferences and content surrounding the ad so viewers see more relevant ads.”

A related trend is for streaming platforms to include interactive features such as social media elements or direct purchases through advertising, noted Barry Lowenthal, president Inuvois an advertising solutions company headquartered in Little Rock, Ark.

“The convergence of streaming with the e-commerce and social media ecosystems means that companies can now track a much wider range of online behavior, combining this data with information from other platforms,” ​​he told TechNewsWorld.

“Furthermore, many of these devices operate in connected environments where data from smart TVs can be cross-referenced with data from other Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the home. It creates more comprehensive profiles of users, often without their knowledge.”

Regulations are required

Following the release of the report, CDD submitted letters to the chairs of the FTC and FCC, as well as the California Attorney General and the California Privacy Protection Agency, urging policymakers to address the findings of its report and implement effective regulations for the CTV industry. .

“Policymakers, scholars and advocates need to pay close attention to the changes taking place in today’s 21st century television industry,” co-author Montgomery said in a statement.

“In addition to calling for stronger consumer and privacy protections,” he continued, “we must seize this opportunity to reimagine the power and potential of the television medium and create a policy framework for connected TV that will enable it to do more. Meet the needs of advertisers.” than.”

“Our future television system in the United States should support and sustain a healthy news and information sector, promote civic engagement, and enable a rich diversity of creative expression,” he added.

Mark N. Vena, President and Chief Analyst SmartTech Research Las Vegas noted that government regulation of the streaming industry may be necessary to protect consumer privacy and prevent data exploitation.

“The elements could include enforcing transparency in data collection practices, requiring clear and accessible privacy policies, and limiting the amount of personal information companies can collect without explicit user consent,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Additionally, the regulations may impose stronger security standards to protect user data and hold companies accountable for breaches or misuse of sensitive information.”

Greg Sterling, co-founder to the mediaSearch, a website focused on social media and local digital commerce, added that non-consensual data collection has been and continues to be a problem across digital platforms.

He told TechNewsWorld, “It’s difficult to find and use terms or other places in virtually all situations in a report. “The attitude of these companies is that the more data, the better, and if there are consequences, we will deal with them.

“The government needs to get involved,” he continued, “and there needs to be comprehensive privacy regulations that require consent-based collection of the most basic data, with severe penalties for violators.”