Shhhhh - your TV could be listening: Samsung issues warning over Smart TVs

Posted by Rocky_Road 10 years, 5 months ago to Science
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The telescreens in Orwell's 1984 also listened....

“He thought of the telescreen with its never-sleeping ear. They could spy upon you night and day, but if you kept your head you could still outwit them. With all their cleverness they had never mastered the secret of finding out what another human being was thinking. . . . Facts, at any rate, could not be kept hidden. They could be tracked down by inquiry, they could be squeezed out of you by torture. But if the object was not to stay alive but to stay human, what difference did it ultimately make?"

― George Orwell, 1984

All Comments

  • Posted by ObjectiveAnalyst 10 years, 5 months ago
    I find this most disturbing. I will not buy one unless I can shut it off or easily defeat it. My wife has a car with OnStar. I want to know where the microphone is. There must be a way to shut it off or cover it up, sound proof it, or something... Orwell lives! Shocking.
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  • Posted by Abaco 10 years, 5 months ago
    I have heard about this. My family is on the verge of getting a smart tv. Frankly, I'm not so sure I want to. This is downright creepy. I remember a couple of years back when we were approached by an alarm company offering a system that could be used to listen inside your home. My first reaction was, "Why would I want that? No thanks." It tripped me out.

    More and more I am shocked at what's developing here.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yes, I snore loudly enough to wake up the undead, let alone the dead.

    I don't think she has read Brave New World yet. I had to do so when I was in high school.
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  • Posted by Rocky_Road 10 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Do you snore, or rather, talk in your sleep? ;-)

    See if you can get her to read Brave New World by Huxley.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 5 months ago
    My daughter is reading 1984 for class right now.

    I have noticed that my TV will automatically shut off within one minute of it thinking that I have woken up. Maybe it is listening!
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