If you are like me, you are somewhat technologically illiterate. I cannot tell you what I had to do just to figure out how to do a blog, and I need my nine year old to show me how my phone works. That is particularly interesting since he doesn’t even have a phone but knows how to program mine. But if you are like me, maybe not being so tech savvy can sometimes be a good thing.
Recent warnings have been put out by television manufacturers, particularly Samsung, about the voice recognition features in their smart televisions. If you have that feature, whatever spoken words that you utter, including personal and sensitive information, will be part of the data that your television captures and is sent to a third party through the voice recognition system. It is not just the commands such as “channel up” that are being recognized by the television. Even if you opt out of the voice-recognition feature, your television will still capture what is said.
In order to prevent your information from being collected, you need to have the voice recognition turned off. What we don’t know is where does the voice data that is collected go, and could a hacker eavesdrop on what we say in our den or bedroom by accessing the voice recognition in our television. Samsung’s privacy statement says that it employs encryption software in its smart televisions.
All of this sounds too much like George Jetson for me. Even in the 60’s, George, as seen above, had a television with a camera that allowed him to speak face to face with his boss over the air waves. Who would have thought. Next thing you know, they will have telephones on your wrist watch, just like Dick Tracy.
The increasing use of technology to assist us in our everyday life should cause us pause to determine what potential intrusions into our privacy each technological improvement brings and whether we want to give up that privacy. In the meanwhile, I think I will get a soda pop, adjust the rabbit ears on my black and white television, and contemplate all this technology over another episode of Andy of Mayberry.
Sincerely,
Michael K. Gillis, Esq.
GILLIS & BIKOFSKY, P.C.
1150 Walnut Street
Newton, MA 02461
Phone: 617-244-4300
Fax: 617-964-0862
E-mail: mgillis@gillisandbikofsky.com