If you have a Vizio TV, it might be watching your every move - and selling that information to advertisers so they can target you by analyzing your behavior

The unadvertised feature which appears deep in its 3,500-word privacy policy, called “Smart Interactivity,” is turned on by default.

Unlike its competitors LG and Samsung, which have similar features, the Vizio version has an opt-out model with the sharing as the default. (The other manufacturers use an opt-in system.) Even more importantly, Vizio steps ever further by allowing the behavior analysis to be connected to individuals IP addresses for precise targeting. As ProPublica notes, data brokers like Experian (whose name you recognize from your credit report) frequently sell comprehensive data tied to IP addresses.

Unlike digital advertising and media, which carefully collects and analyzes data, there’s not a whole lot of data in the TV industry because cable and satellite providers aren’t allowed to sell data. But Vizio isn’t a cable company, it sells TVs. That gives it a legal loophole to snitch on its customers.

If they weren’t trying to pull one over on you, why do they bury the agreement so deep and why don’t they show some respect and make it opt-in?

Oh yeah, $$$.

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