If you own a VIZIO television- it may have been keeping an eye on what you were watching- down to the second.
VIZIO agreed to pay $2 million in a settlement, after the FTC and the state of New Jersey accused the company of installing software on 11 million televisions which logged what viewers were watching without their knowledge or consent and sold that information to third parties who used it for targeted advertising.
“If you have one of these TVs, it is not watching you. I think that’s always a major concern- ‘it’s watching me work around the house or watching me wash dishes’ – it’s not doing that. It’s only wanting to collect the data that’s shown on the TV itself,” said Kyle Jones, the computer information systems chair at Sinclair Community College.
The settlement also requires the company to delete any information collected prior to March 1, 2016, and to get viewer consent for any future data collection.
The company said it updated online and onscreen disclosures before the settlement was announced.
Alexa is listening
It’s not only your television that is potentially keeping tabs on you.
“I’m not comfortable with something always listening to what I’m doing in my house and then feeding me advertisements based on how I live my life,” that’s what Mickey Mentzer, an IT employee at U.D. told me when asked about Amazon Echo’s Alexa and Google Home.
The connected-home, question-and-answer devices are listening to you more than you may realize but experts say there are ways to protect your privacy and keep the intrusion to a minimum.
They aren’t big brother but more learning devices, according to cyber security expert Mark Human with HumanIT Solutions in Dayton.
“When you say Alexa, it records for sixty seconds,” said Human, “the next time you talk to Alexa it is supposed to dump that information out and just collect your new sixty seconds. I say ‘supposed to’ because it’s controversial. Amazon and others have not released how long they do hold this information.”
Human recommends using the device’s mute function to keep it from listening all the time.
You can also delete all recordings from the Echo or Google Home at the products’ settings pages online.
These devices also have the potential to be hacked.
Human said you should make sure to have password protected wifi, change your passwords frequently, and set up a numerical PIN to avoid accidental purchases.
Dog food recall
Certain cans of Evanger’s Hunk of Beef canned dog food- sold in Ohio and other states- have been voluntarily recalled after a euthanasia drug was found in a lot of the product.
Testing by the Illinois-based Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Company discovered pentobarbital after social media posts reported five dogs becoming sick from eating it- one dog has died, according to a spokesperson.
The company’s Chelsea Sher said the investigation lead Evanger’s to cut ties with a supplier who may have put a euthanized animal in the supply.
“Our goal is to close up that gap and lead the way in regulations that are necessary by the FDA and USDA to ensure that any euthanized animal never makes it’s way into the pet food stream,” said Sher, in a YouTube video.
Dayton South Veterinarian, Dr. Daniel Brauer said he hopes it was a fluke, because there are regulations in place to keep this from happening.
“It’s very surprising because it makes you wonder if this was a pet food company that’s been out there for a while- could it happen to other ones. That’s always a concern,” said Dr. Brauer.
If your dog may have consumed this product watch for signs of dizziness, depressed respiratory efforts, and drowsiness.
You can return the recalled dog food to your place of purchase for a full refund.
Look for these numbers on 12 oz. Hunk of Beef cans with an expiration date of June 2020:
- 1816E03HB
- 1816E04HB
- 1816E06HB
- 1816E07HB
- 1816E13HB
Evanger’s is now testing every lot of beef product before selling it, said Sher.
Rachel Murray is a WHIO-TV consumer reporter. You can watch her reports on News Center 7, follow her on Twitter @RMurrayWHIO, and like her fan page on Facebook.
