Earlier this week Samsung received some unwanted publicity concerning its Smart TV privacy policy when the word spread that its voice recognition policy would allow the sets to listen to conversations and capture ‘personal or other sensitive information’.
The company, of course, vehemently denied the claims and promptly published a blog post to clarify its policy.
But now further problems have surfaced, as viewers complain that the TVs have started inserting ads into the middle of movies. And there have been a lot of complaints!
The issue first came to light last month, when Business Insider ran an article about popup ads appearing randomly on Samsung Smart TVs. Then a few days ago, a Reddit user claimed that a muted Pepsi ad appeared while he was watching shows on his Samsung TV. The ad didn’t show up on any other devices or platforms – only on the TV.
The identical problem surfaced in Australia, where several Samsung TV owners complained about Pepsi ads showing up in their Foxtel (cable TV service) programs. After Foxtel’s immediate response that it shouldn’t be happening, Samsung Australia came forward with a statement claiming the ad was a mistake, and that it was not intended for the Australian market.
Which leaves us wondering: which market was it intended for?
Samsung has said it is exploring “interactive experiences” which will be offered to users on an “opt-in” basis, which doesn’t sound very encouraging. How many people do you know who would “opt-in” for “interactive experiences” with commercials?
In the meantime, if you’re an unhappy Samsung owner, there is a solution, according to a post on the Plex forums: click “disagree with the Yahoo Privacy Notice,” to opt out of advertisements. This option is located through the menu, inside the Smart Hub options.
Samsung needs to be more transparent with its customers. If the company wants to “explore options” then they should by all means do so, but they don’t need to spring surprises like these on to their unsuspecting customers.
