Is your TV watching you? Samsung's latest sets with built in cameras

s your TV watching you? Samsung's latest sets with built-in cameras spark concerns

PUBLISHED: 05:07 GMT, 20 March 2012 | UPDATED: 12:18 GMT, 20 March 2012

Samsung's latest breed of plasmas and HDTVs may allow hackers, or even the company itself, to see and hear you and your family, and collect extremely personal data.

The new models, which are closer than ever to personal computers, offer high-tech features that have previously been unavailable, including a built-in HD camera, microphone set and face and speech recognition software.

This software allows Samsung to recognise who is viewing the TV and personalises each person’s experience accordingly. The TV also listens and responds to specific voice commands.

High-tech: Samsung's latest sets feature built-in HD cameras, microphone sets and face and speech recognition software

But some critics have suggested that the TV company could be spying on you, or even watching and listening to you - without your knowledge - through these features.

Gary Merson, who runs website HD guru, said that because there is no way of disconnecting the camera and microphone, users cannot be 100 per cent sure that Samsung is not collecting data and passing it on to third parties.

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Merson said: ‘What concerns us is the integration of both an active camera and microphone. A Samsung representative tells us you can deactivate the voice feature; however this is done via software, not a hard switch like the one you use to turn a room light on or off.

‘And unlike other TVs, which have cameras and microphones as add-on accessories connected by a single, easily removable USB cable, you can't just unplug these sensors.

Invasive: Gary Merson suggests that the Samsung's new models could be hacked into

‘During our demo, unless the face recognition learning feature was activated, there was no indication as to whether the camera (such as a red light) and audio mics are on. And as far as the microphone is concerned, there is no way to physically disconnect it or be assured it is not picking up your voice.’

Merson claims that this problem raises questions about whether Samsung can watch someone watching their TV, and listen to them, at will, via the microphone and internet connection.

It also sparks concerns, he says, about where Samsung stores this data that it collects and how secure it is.

He goes on to suggest that the TV sets could be hacked into if, for instance, they are run by operating systems that have a prior history of hacking.

When Samsung was approached to provide information on the set's privacy features or the company's policies, it did not respond.

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Comment by Central Scrutinizer on March 22, 2012 at 12:31pm: no different than xblawx's "Kinect" camera......creeps me out. Interesting story here, was @ a friends house who luvs his 50" and xbox, has the Kinect. I mentioned if he was ever worried about M$oft watching you back?

he laffed. Over there like a month later, playing cards, drinking, smokin, etc Nobody playing video game,Xbox not on, tv not on, all of a sudden that lil camera came to life, raised up from its lowered position and the LED lit up..I FREAKED THE FAK OUT.....grabbed a jacket and threw it over that creepy bitch and did the typical

I TOLD YOU SO!!....blew his mind, no longer has it kinnected...LMFAO

Comment by suzie on March 22, 2012 at 12:31pm: I love that pix..

Comment by DTOM on March 22, 2012 at 12:23pm

Comment by DTOM on March 22, 2012 at 12:22pm: "Behind Winston's back the voice from the telescreen was still babbling away about pig iron and the overfulfillment of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plate commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. but at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You have to live - did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized." - From Chapter 1, "1984" - George Orwell

Comment by Robert Carobene on March 22, 2012 at 12:13pm: Well when I was a kid I thought the same thing also but now I am see that this is possible and it has been for a while this technology and it will one day be mandatory I can see that happening.Yes there are untapped resources that the nwo have repressed us for centuries!

Comment by suzie on March 22, 2012 at 12:10pm: you know this is so strange ... when i was a teen i went through a period when i thought the tv was watching me.. i eventually had to get over it because it was crazy!! now as an adult it may be true? I used to think i had some kind of psycic thing going on .. i used to see the future in my mind, but it was so horrific i abandoned it.. This was a very long time ago but i now think i may have had some kind of gift that had to be repressed and abandoned to function in this world. i know it is kinda crazy but this tv watching us thing triggered my memory of this... we have been dummied down so much, i think there may be untold abilities untapped resources that had to be repressed for this evil system to control us.. there will be no more war or famine or poverty when the spiritual power of heaven is unleashed in a world doomed because it fights against it! The Power of goodness will win in the end.. life what a journey!