Modern data leeches: Smart TVs even track console gamers
Smart TVs even analyze picture content when an HDMI player is used. The analyses are used for targeted advertising.
(Image: c't)
The evaluation of image content to personalize advertising content is deeply embedded in modern televisions. It's not just app developers who incorporate tracking into their offerings – Smart TV manufacturers also comprehensively evaluate user behavior.
Advertising tracking on smart TVs is in itself old hat. However, a new study by British, Spanish and Californian universities looks at the extent at the operating system level and the differences between various usage scenarios, such as whether a streaming app is running or a game console is connected. One device each from Samsung and LG serves as an example – however, other manufacturers are also collecting data and are likely to proceed similarly.
The good news first: All analysis traffic can be prevented via the data protection and privacy settings in the TV menus, although this usually has to be done manually (opt-out). The study confirms that the TVs then no longer make calls home. Where these options are hidden varies depending on the manufacturer and, in some cases, the model. If in doubt, please refer to the operating instructions.
Automatic content recognition
The basic technology is called Automatic Content Recognition (ACR): Smart TVs regularly create hashes from the visible and sometimes audible content, called fingerprints. These hashes are uploaded in encrypted form to the manufacturer's clouds and compared on the server side with a database of primarily films, series and games. In the case of a match, the manufacturer knows what the user is currently watching or playing. On the one hand, the manufacturer can use this to display suitable advertising in the user interface, while on the other, the findings are also useful for advertising agreements.
The researchers assume that it is possible to identify users based on their consumption habits, even if the fingerprints do not contain any personal identifiers.
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Several screenshots per second
Samsung openly advertises data collection under the Samsung Ads banner. According to Samsung, the smart TVs take screenshots every 500 milliseconds. LG is even more data-hungry, taking screenshots every 10 milliseconds. Both manufacturers transmit the fingerprints in bundles: LG every 15 seconds, Samsung every minute. In terms of volume, the uploads are manageable at two to six kilobytes per interval. The comparison for personalized advertising is primarily problematic.
Samsung and LG collect data in two scenarios in particular: When linear television is running via the integrated TV tuners or when a player is connected via HDMI. This can be a games console such as the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, a private notebook or a Blu-ray player.
The perfidious thing about this is that the manufacturers have the right to create fingerprints from private images. This is particularly unwelcome if artificial intelligence (AI) is used to analyze the image content.
(Image:Â Gianluca Anselmi and Yash Vekaria, et al.)
Netflix & Co. prefer to analyze themselves
12 times less ACR traffic runs on the home screen, when screencasting from a smartphone or when a streaming app such as Netflix is opened directly on the TV. This is due to the regulations of the major streaming providers, which prevent Automatic Content Recognition and prefer to carry out their own analyses.
In the test in the UK, all ACR domains from LG are resolved to Amsterdam. This is eu-acrX.alphonso.tv from advertising partner Alphonso, where "X" stands for any number. Samsung uses four domains: acr-eu-prd.samsungcloud.tv, acr0.samsungcloudsolution.com, log-config.samsungacr.com and log-ingestion-eu.samsungacr.com. One resolves to the USA, which is permitted within the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
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