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This is why.
I pulled just some of the comments off of the web under "is your tv cable box spying on you". I had heard about this some years ago and passed off as Weirdos. But then after reading about Comcast and wanting to make automatons out of us just to sell advertizing I started to look closer. It seems that Cox, AT&T, Direct TV, Dish, Microsoft and Intel are all onboard with this outrage and that is probably not all that is involved.
A woman ask this question on a blog.
Is Cox cable spying on us? My husband was mesmerized one morning by the miracle manna preacher on our Cox cable. The next day, there was a pre-recorded voice mail on our phone from Mr Miracle Manna himself telling us to press 1 now if we wanted our own miracle manna. This seems to be too much of a coincidence. Does Cox have a way of tracking what we watch and then informing their advertisers?
A guy answers.
I'm pretty certain the answer is "No" either way. But if you answered "Yes," the answer is "It's technically possible." They could build some code in, I suppose, to transmit (as with cable modems) your currently-tuned TV station back over the line. "Well Duh, spoken like a Sheeple"
I work for a company owned by Cox and Comcast in a very related field. They could (and are going to be) tracking your viewing data and begin personalizing some of the ads you see on TV - targetted advertising - maybe even powered by Google. You're going to start seeing enhanced ads and tv "applets" that would allow you to opt in to this kind of thing. (This is a company man all the way.)
However the cable nets are extremely anal about not releasing personally identifiable information to advertisers w/o you opting in (and if the lawyers have their way - double opt in). This is FCC regulated and I guarantee you that this did not happen as you're imagining it. OK, How about getting the info illegally. Obviously these companies are keeping a low profile about what they are doing so....
This one really set me off. It's a report from Comcast themselves.
This is a reporter giving the account.
"If you have some tinfoil handy, now might be a good time to fashion a hat. At the Digital Living Room conference today, Gerard Kunkel, Comcast‘s senior VP of user experience, told me the cable company is experimenting with different camera technologies built into devices so it can know who’s in your living room.
The idea being that if you turn on your cable box, it recognizes you and pulls up shows already in your profile or makes recommendations. If parents are watching TV with their children, for example, parental controls could appear to block certain content from appearing on the screen. Kunkel also said this type of monitoring is the “holy grail” because it could help serve up specifically tailored ads. Yikes.
Kunkel said the system wouldn’t be based on facial recognition, so there wouldn’t be a picture of you on file (we hope). Instead, it would distinguish between different members of your household by recognizing body forms. He stressed that the system is still in the experimental phase, that there hasn’t been consumer testing, and that any rollout “must add value” to the viewing experience beyond serving ads.
Perhaps I’ve seen Enemy of the State too many times, or perhaps I’m just naive about the depths to which Comcast currently tracks my every move. I can’t trust Comcast with BitTorrent, so why should I trust them with my must-be-kept-secret, DVR-clogging addiction to Keeping Up with the Kardashians?
Kunkel also spoke on camera with me about fixing bad Comcast user experiences, the ongoing BitTorrent battle and VOD. But he mostly towed the corporate line on these issues (the monitoring your living room came up after my camera was put away)".
Matt Brown-Reugg Tuesday, March 18 2008
That is officially the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Talk about invasion of privacy! So that would put an end to me putting my hands down my pants to scratch my bag while eating popcorn? I can just see how some disgruntled worker at Comcast could use this and have a field day on youtube. Yikes is right. Double Yikes.
Charles, Tuesday, March 18 2008
Orwell thought that cameras in the living room would imposed on us by a fascist government. Fascism these days is dominated by corporate power guised under a mantle of legitimacy. These systems of control have been primarily put in place by willful consumption of consumer goods. Cameras with phones are the same as the boxes that Comcast is proposing.
The interesting aspect of this is that many people will be up in arms over this, but we barely complain about all of the technology that is around already that track our actions. Online ad networks linked to medical databases and banking records and gps enabled phones that connect to LinkedIn and Facebook…
Me, "This last comment misses the mark". Our living rooms are supossed to be our private zone. Not invaded by THE CABLE OR SATELLITE COMPANY OR BIG BROTHER.
So, just what is Big Brother Buster?
Big Brother Buster is a new electronics device that blocks ALL information trying to return to the cable or satellite company. The out going signal does not leave your room. Big Brother Buster uses cell phone technology to block those rascally unwanted signals. Big Brother Buster connects between your cable input and the cable box or the satellite tuner. So no matter what is trying to return a signal, cable box, satellite tuner, TV or anything else tied to the cable Big Brother Buster will be able to block that signal.
Big Brother Buster is manufactured in the U.S. and nowhere else. Big Brother Buster will work in other countries IF they are digital and use a standard “F” connector to connect to the equipment. Big Brother Buster derives the power to work from the cable itself, so no external power is needed.
The manufacturing process is new and unique also. One small box with a connector at either end, one input and the other output.
Simple to connect, disconnect the “cable in” from cable or satellite and connect that end to the input connector on the box. Then connect the short piece of cable (supplied) to the output ed of the box and the other end of that cable to the place where you removed the company cable. Turn on your set and enjoy, knowing that you are not being spied on by anybody from the cable or satellite companies or anybody that they may share that information with.
How would you know if the system in your home is wired for picture or sound? You won't. But chances are if you have a box less than 4 years old, the chances are good that you already do. Also if you are on Cox cable system you should assume that you already have a camera and microphone in your home. Should you pop the top of your box and look for cameras you will probably not find them. The devices will not look like a camera or microphone. They may look just like a plastic transistor or an integrated circuit. You have to remember that the camera will be an infra-red camera an it will be able to see through plastic. That's right the case on the cable box will NOT shield you from it nor will a piece of duck tape. It does not have to have a “Hole” to look through. Same for microphones. It can have the ability to hear you whisper across the room.
You don't need tinfoil hats just a knowledge that the technology is here NOW and people want to use it on you and it is possible that most sets in our homes have these devices in them NOW.
Orwell was wrong about the date. When TV went to digital is when it all became possible. The cable and satellite companies are looking for ways to make money. But who else would like to see you and what you are doing in your home? Perhaps somebody with the ability to tell the cable and satellite companies I WANT TO LOOK AT THE HOME OF …......you perhaps and see if he, she, it..... is inciting insurrection? Or maybe if he, she, it is talking ill of somebody of power? Many things can be taken out of context and innocents can be gotten into a lot of trouble. A joke, a laugh at somebody on the news.
Well if you are not convinced to get one just for insurance, then perhaps you, and everyone else, will see you on “you- tube”, you know like when you get carried away and make love to your significant other on the couch,..........in front of the TV.
Now I realize that not every one can be watched all of the time but there are software programs that can and can alert somebody if certain words are said or certain actions. There is a program that looks at ALL overseas communications and causes alerts to be sounded as warnings.
So do you want to stop the invasion or are you a Sheeple? If you had to think about that you are probably one of the people that Charles is talking about. Otherwise go to Big Brother Buster and find out how you CAN STOP it. Easily, quickly, safely and only you will know you are protected from the invasions of privacy from your cable or provider or big brother. Don't be the last in your hood to get one.
NOTE THIS SITE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT THIS TIME
You can contact us at jim@sodahc.com
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