The timing of this next story could not be worse for Vizio seeing as TVs that can spy on you is top of mind thanks to WikiLeaks. You might recall that Vizio got slapped by the FTC for having TVs that collected data on users without their consent. Well, things just got worse for them as they’re now going to have to defend a lawsuit in regards to this:
The lawsuit makes a variety of federal and state claims over the way Vizio’s Smart TVs use content recognition software to collect and report users’ content viewing histories. When consumers bought the TV sets, factory settings automatically enabled data collection, and while the company disputes that viewing data is coupled with personally identifiable information such as name or contact information, the plaintiffs assert that researchers have been able to figure out who is watching what based on IP addresses, zip codes, product model numbers and other data. The plaintiffs also allege that Vizio hadn’t adequately disclosed its privacy practices and that to turn off the data collection meant navigating obscure setting options.
Seeing as the company is trying to sell itself to China’s LeEco for $2 billion, the question has to be if Vizio will simply settle out of court to make this go away. After all, seeing as they’ve been previously called out by the FTC, their chances in court may not be too good. But I am not a lawyer. Watch this space for updates as they come.
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This entry was posted on March 8, 2017 at 9:52 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Vizio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Vizio To Face Lawsuit Over TVs That Spy On You
The timing of this next story could not be worse for Vizio seeing as TVs that can spy on you is top of mind thanks to WikiLeaks. You might recall that Vizio got slapped by the FTC for having TVs that collected data on users without their consent. Well, things just got worse for them as they’re now going to have to defend a lawsuit in regards to this:
The lawsuit makes a variety of federal and state claims over the way Vizio’s Smart TVs use content recognition software to collect and report users’ content viewing histories. When consumers bought the TV sets, factory settings automatically enabled data collection, and while the company disputes that viewing data is coupled with personally identifiable information such as name or contact information, the plaintiffs assert that researchers have been able to figure out who is watching what based on IP addresses, zip codes, product model numbers and other data. The plaintiffs also allege that Vizio hadn’t adequately disclosed its privacy practices and that to turn off the data collection meant navigating obscure setting options.
Seeing as the company is trying to sell itself to China’s LeEco for $2 billion, the question has to be if Vizio will simply settle out of court to make this go away. After all, seeing as they’ve been previously called out by the FTC, their chances in court may not be too good. But I am not a lawyer. Watch this space for updates as they come.
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This entry was posted on March 8, 2017 at 9:52 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Vizio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.