Remember when Microsoft revealed Kinect would quietly listen to everything you said, causing the internet to erupt into furious, anti-Orwellian storm? Now it's Samsung's turn.
A passage from the company's Smart TV privacy policy has been doing the rounds, revealing a small but concerning detail: "Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition."
Privacy party
It added: "Samsung takes consumer privacy very seriously. In all of our Smart TVs we employ industry-standard security safeguards and practices, including data encryption, to secure consumers' personal information and prevent unauthorized collection or use."
The company added that you'll know if the voice recognition feature is active because a microphone icon will be present on the screen. Samsung also reminds us that the feature can be activated or deactivated by the user.
And of course, the TV owner can also disconnect the TV from the Wi-Fi network entirely, although that somewhat defeats the point of having a smart television.
That might help some people sleep more soundly at night, but as the Internet of Things starts to consume our daily lives, this certainly won't be the last (or the worst) privacy scare.
Should we fear the Internet of Things?
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