![\"spying\"](\"https:\/\/sitesdev.net\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/spying-300x225.jpg\")
Smart devices are wonderful. The latest smart phones all have virtual assistants you can just ask questions rather than bothering with the whole typing thing. That\u2019s both fantastic and convenient. The day\u2019s coming when keyboards will be relegated to the dustbin of history.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just smartphones, either. Television manufacturers have done a remarkable job at reinventing themselves and staying relevant in the world of handheld devices. After all, who wants to watch the latest blockbuster movie on a tiny, five-inch screen? TVs have progressed to the point where the remote is no longer necessary. From the comfort of your sofa, you can simply tell your TV what channel you want it to go to, or which app to launch, and it does it. Samsung and all the other major television manufacturers have incorporated that feature into their latest sets, and it has been widely applauded.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the Downside?<\/strong><\/p>\n The downside is simply this: In order to understand what those voice commands mean, a computer has to digitally record, then interpret them. You read that correctly. It makes a digital copy of your spoken words. All of them. Understand that all smart TVs work exactly the same way. This exact feature is coming to the fore because Samsung made it a point to mention it specifically in their privacy policy.
\nHow many times have you had a private, personal conversation with someone while watching TV? If you stop and think about it, you\u2019ll probably come to the realization that it happens more often than you first thought. The TV has become such a fixture in our lives that we don\u2019t even think about it, and why should we? For decades, our TV\u2019s were just passive boxes that dutifully displayed the images we wanted. The whole idea of a \u201csmart TV\u201d is still somewhat alien to us, and we\u2019re struggling to adapt with this new concept.
\nWhat it means for consumers is that the company that owns the TV is digitizing every word you say while you\u2019re within \u201cearshot\u201d of the set. According to the Samsung privacy policy, all your spoken words are shipped off to a third party, and that party converts them to text. The question then becomes, \u201cwhat does that third party do with all that data?\u201d That\u2019s an excellent question, and nobody really seems to know.
\nOf course, as Samsung says, you can avoid all this simply by turning off the voice feature of your \u201csmart TV,\u201d but then you\u2019re in the somewhat-troubling situation of having paid a premium for a smart set, only to immediately dumb it back down. If that was your plan, you could have just saved some money and an extra step by not buying the smart TV in the first place. While this is a \u201csolution,\u201d it\u2019s not really a solution. All of this to say, be careful what you say around your Smart TV. You really don\u2019t know who\u2019s listening, or what they\u2019re doing with your words.<\/p>\n