Weekly Wheaties 2407: Smart TVs, Streaming, Tech Shifts, Spot the Brands

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Artist: Cheel | Track: Sunset Dream
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[@tedball8677]

Well said, _very_ well said about the privacy loss using some of the convenience features of connectivity with smart TVs.
Amen and amen on having a hard line (ethernet) from your TV to the router.
TL;DR
Of course the Alexa, Siri, hey-google kind of help is just as intrusive.
Even your auto insurance is just as intrusive, if you have one of those tattletale devices that tells the insurer about the vehicle speed, location, etc. Your driving habits of a car are valid underwriting info, certainly. Yet today all the tattletale devices must have all sorts of access to your phone that is unnecessary for auto insurance underwriting. LIke what, I pretend Mr Wheaties asks?
- Your activity ... your phone is with you and Bluetooth is on (so the tattletale works), yet does your insurer need to know you all of that? Not for underwriting, nope. However, that info is excellent info for a *marketing profile* they will collect, refine, and rent to 3rd party companies.
- Your location 24/7/365 ... your phone's location more specifically. Well, if you're not driving and you're in your house asleep at zero dark thirty, why does the insurer need that info? With that they know you are probably asleep (phone hasn't moved and it's 4 AM), your car is OK (it's not Bluetooth-ing to your phone from where it is to where the car is parked), you're not doing anything (the phone itself knows it's in a dark room with no one looking at the screen, which means you're probably asleep).
- Nearby devices ... why in the name of Alexander Graham Bell does the insurer need to know who you're hanging out with (specifically whose phone is nearby your phone)? They might have a good sounding reason, yet the real reason is (again) probably marketing info they can sell to 3rd party vendors. Not to the Rooskies or intelligence services, just to other companies.
- With your location and activity, your insurer knows _where_ you buy groceries, go out to eat or party, what stores you go to, what entertainment venues you go to, etc.
Anyway, our smart phones already tell companies a lot about us -- I guess our TVs are feeling left out and are trying to get involved as well.