As the US heads to the polls this week, and with the Australian Federal Election due next year, LG Electronics is selling data captured from their TVs via their intrusive WebOS software, to political parties on how their customers intend to vote, with some asking the questions as to whether LG already knows who will win the US election.
Monica Longoria Head of Marketing Insights LG Ad Solutions claims that research reveals tha there are significant differences from TV shows that liberal (Labor) and conservative (Coalition) viewers watch when it comes to capturing data.
“With LG’s Automated Content Recognition data, political buyers have been able to find likely constituents without paying for third-party data overlays. This speaks to the value of ACR and how other marketers can take advantage of the same tactic” she said.
So, what is ACR?
LG Electronics along with several other TV brands, who LG has given their WebOS software away to for free so that they can capture more data from a TV running the intrusive software is using ACR (Automatic Content Recognition) software unbeknown to many owners to capture which shows and news services consumers watch. This is then sold for millions of dollars to third parties such as political parties who want to know how consumers are more likely to vote.
This intrusive, but silent technology captures screenshots of what you watch multiple times per second, even when using HDMI, a new study recently revealed.
The authors of the Cornell University study were able to see exactly what is being captured via an LG OLED TV.
The researchers were able to analysis the traffic between the TV and LG server to determine how often and how much data is collected on your TV.
Already a controversial technology consumers are not made aware when they buy an LG TV that acceptance of the LG terms and conditions gives LG Group and their LG Electronics as well as the likes of Samsung the right to intrude into people’s lives and capture vast amounts of data which is then sold which in LG’s case generated over $1.2 billion dollars last year.
The WebOS software which has ACR built in recognizes or identifies content—audio, video, and images—playing on supported media devices, such as smart TVs and connected mobile devices.
“While prior research has investigated third-party tracking in the smart TV ecosystem, it has not looked into second-party ACR tracking that is directly conducted by the smart TV platform,” wrote the researchers behind the ‘Watching TV with the Second Party’ report.
One finding is that Smart TVs constantly send large amounts of data about what you watch to the servers. LG captures a screenshot of your TV every 10ms (100 times per second), while Samsung does so every 500ms (twice per second). However, Samsung “transmits up to 2X more data at a higher frequency to ACR domains as compared to LG” when using the TV’s app platform.
ChannelNews understands that Netflix and YouTube appear to have agreements in place to prevent LG and Samsung from collecting ACR data. “ACR network traffic is not present when streaming content from third-party apps such as Netflix and YouTube,” the study found.
While the study concludes that “the opt-out mechanisms implemented on LG and Samsung smart TVs are working”, it is “typically not straightforward, often requiring navigation through various settings in multiple subsections, with no universal off switch”, but instead up to 11 different menu options.
Several people who have contacted ChannelNews following our previous stories on this issue claim that the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission should step in with legislation that makes people aware that a key feature of WebOS is data capture and that consumers should have the right to switch off ACR technology.
Last year, the US Federal Trade Commission proposed the “click-to-cancel” rule that would make it easier for consumers to get out of subscriptions or questionable services.
While Australia does not yet have a “click-to-cancel” rule for subscriptions, the Australian government is considering legislation to prohibit unfair trading practices, including subscription and data capture traps.
The rule if implemented will apply to a range of services, including streaming services.
