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jrmg | on: Root shell on Samsung TV
I don't get why people think it would be worth all this effort for Samsung to nefariously work out not only if you have a dog and/or a baby, but exactly when they make noise. Like, sure, that would be a gross invasion of privacy if they were doing it - but what's the business reason for putting all this effort into it?

I can almost see the "they're using it for advertising" or "they're selling information about whether you have a dog or a baby, of course!", but notifying every time they make noise?

There's obviously more to this story than these sensational knee-jerk reactions assume. They're just so non-curious for a supposed 'investigation'.

blks | parent | next
Well, person didn’t have a dog and then they suddenly do, and that will be noted by the device. I don’t understand the downplaying here, even though it’s correct that these people not necessarily know what they’re doing. The device does collect information about you and does listen (all while costing thousands of dollars). And these spy features they announce are not a product for common users but for data companies.
jrmg | root | parent | next
I don't think I'm the one being overly credulous here.

None of the assertions you made are backed by this 'research' which as far as I can see only shows that the TV is capable of detecting dog barks and baby cries.

You're just presuming that because the TV is capable of sensing these things (which Samsung advertises - links at end) this data is being collected and sent to Samsung - and then sold on.

So, some questions:

Is information about every time your baby cries or dog barks even valuable enough that this is plausible?

Is there any evidence that this is actually being sent over a network - for purposes other than the features they advertise?

Is there evidence that these are even being monitored if the dog bark or baby cry feature is not turned on?

Shouldn't the burden of showing things like this be on the people making the sensational accusations?

I could come up with more, but I think that these are enough. I'd love (well, hate, because I don't want it to be true) to see some actual proof of any of this.

https://www.samsung.com/us/smartthings/experience-smartthing... https://www.samsung.com/ie/smartthings/care-for-your-pet/

bigiain | root | parent | next
"They recently had a baby and now they suddenly don't" is probably a datapoint they sell to ambulance-chasing medical malpractice lawyers and PE-owned grief counseling clinics...
gscott | root | parent
The police also want to know if you have a dog if they are to raid your house.
jojo2354 | root | parent
Well yes, but when was the last time any police force had the mental ingenuity of asking the Samsung corporation about details on on someone's living environment? And what level of accuracy would you trust that intel?
adrianN | root | parent | next
If the police doesn’t do it on their own, sooner or later some databroker will sell it to them as part of some AI policing package.
wolvoleo | root | parent
Yeah the police would never ask Amazon ring for mass video without a warrant either right? Oh wait they could and they did. And it was shut down after it was exposed.

And on flock cameras they still do.

It's like this, once you have the data they will come for it.

cowlevel | parent | next
"they recently didn't have a baby and now they do" is worth thousands of dollars of product sales
skinfaxi | parent | next
Just because your own imagination is limited you suppose theirs is the same? People with any semblance of power can be incredibly petty.
bri3k | parent
I agree. It is much more likely that this for QoL project not implemented. Imagine the TV being smart enough to skip to before the baby interrupted.
fn-mote | root | parent
More likely just auto-increase the volume of the ads so you can hear them while you take care of the baby. Or walk the dog.

(Joking or /sarcasm.)

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