SUED For Screenshotting Your TV (Every Second)

[thumbtak]

In this video, Seytonic discusses several major tech and privacy news stories, primarily focusing on how smart TVs and browser extensions are harvesting user data.

Smart TV Spying and Lawsuits

The video highlights how many smart TV brands (including Hisense, LG, TCL, Vizio, and Samsung) use Automated Content Recognition (ACR). This technology takes screenshots of your screen—sometimes as often as every second—to create a digital fingerprint of what you are watching.

• Data Harvesting: This happens regardless of whether you are using an app or a device plugged in via HDMI. The data is used to serve highly targeted ads.
• Legal Action: The State of Texas has filed five lawsuits against these manufacturers, alleging that they do not properly inform users or obtain meaningful consent.
• Difficulty Opting Out: Finding the settings to turn ACR off is often intentionally difficult and buried deep within unintuitive menus.

Espionage Gear Discovery in Poland

Polish police recently stopped a car containing three Ukrainian citizens and discovered a large collection of “spy gear.”

• The Toolkit: The items included a Flipper Zero, signal jammers, SIM banks for mass texting, bug detectors to find hidden cameras, and 4G-enabled spy cameras.
• Legal Consequences: While much of the gear is not illegal to own individually, the trio could not explain why they had an “espionage toolkit” while traveling. They have been detained for three months pending an investigation.

VPNs Spying on AI Conversations

Researchers found that a popular free browser extension, UrbanVPN Proxy, was spying on users’ interactions with AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

• Data Injection: A recent update injected code into browser tabs to intercept prompts and responses from AI services.|
• Data Selling: Although marketed as “AI protection” to scan for unsafe links, the company’s privacy policy revealed they were actually harvesting and selling this conversation data.
• Removal: Due to violations of Google’s policies regarding the sale of user data, the extension was removed from the Chrome Web Store, though it may still be active on other browsers like Edge.

General Privacy Warnings

The video concludes with advice to be extremely cautious with free VPNs and browser extensions. Even extensions that have been safe for years can become malicious through automatic updates once they are sold or updated by developers.

 

[thumbtak]

Here is how you disable it on all the TVs in the Law Suit

1. LG (webOS)

• Settings > All Settings > General > System > Additional Settings > Toggle Live Plus to Off.
• Settings > Support > Privacy & Terms > User Agreements > Uncheck Viewing Information and Personalized Advertising.
• Settings > General > System > Additional Settings > Home Settings > Uncheck Home Promotion.

2. Samsung (Tizen OS)

• Settings > Support > Terms & Privacy > Privacy Choices.
• Select Viewing Information Services and uncheck the box to disable ACR.
• Uncheck Interest-Based Advertisement Services.

3. Sony (Google TV / Android TV)

• Settings > Initial Setup. Look for Samba Interactive TV and select Disable.
• Settings > System > About > Legal Information > Ads > Toggle Opt out of Ads Personalization to On.
• Optional: Go to Settings > Apps > See all apps > Samba Services Manager > Disable.

4. TCL & Hisense (Roku TV models)

• Settings > Privacy > Smart TV Experience.
• Uncheck Use Info from TV Inputs. This specifically stops the TV from analyzing what comes in via your HDMI/Computer port.
• Settings > Privacy > Advertising > Check Limit Ad Tracking.

Hisense (VIDAA / Google TV models)

• Settings > System > Privacy > Smart TV Experience.
• Toggle Viewing Information Services or Automatic Content Recognition to Off.

The “Nuclear Option” for Monitors (Note: This turns off all Smart Features)

• Go to Network Settings and “Forget” your Wi-Fi network.
• If the TV isn’t on the internet, it can’t send the ACR “fingerprints” of your computer screen back to the manufacturer’s servers.

 

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