Comcast to start spying on its subscribers.

[Daikun]

If you have a Comcast subscription, cancel it now while you still can.

At the Digital Living Room onference today, Gerard Kunkel, Comcast's senior VP of user experience, told [NewTeeVee editor Chris Albrecht] 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.


Read the full story (http://newteevee.com/2008/03/18/comcast-cameras-to-start-watching-you) at NewTeeVee.

[Hanshotfirst113]

http://myopinionsareimportant.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/1984-movie-bb_a1.jpg

[Draft]

I might cancel anyway (92 bucks to have HD Box, HD Box + DVR, and basic cable for 2 other TVs)

I might want to cancel internet too, since they apparently lower the internet speed of anyone who downloads a lot of files (which I do) too

It's a pretty idea, but I don't think a camera would be neccessary. Make profiles (charge for each profile), state your name, age, and 5 favorite channels. Be easy and cheap and not involve lawsuits!

[tb4000]

Considering how much of the pie Comcast has (it's the only game in town where I live, sadly), this may be an involuntary choice for a lot of people.

[Daxdiv]

Man, I think it going to awkward if someone see an "adult picture" if you know what I mean. Also I wouldn't want to be one of those people spying on the viewers. I don't know what other people do when they watch tv.

[Speedy Boris]

Thank heavens I don't have a cable box.

[Toonfan2000]

Friendly advice: DIRECTV.

[GWOtaku]

Ahem. The context of this is pretty darn important:


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.


So there's no record for your actual appearance, no proof there's some central database storing such personal details, no proof this means some employee at a desk can see what you're doing, and the product in question is still in development and hasn't been tested.

I'm as much against big brother as anybody, but can we save outrage for real emergencies?

[Captain Highwind]

I'm as much against big brother as anybody, but can we save outrage for real emergencies?

Especially since there's an easy solution:

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7706/tapetc1.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[Dr.Pepper]

Well isn't this dandy. Oh well. I will just have to deal with it.

[veemonjosh]

And now I'm finally glad I ditched that dang cable box.

Seriously, when the only thing you're actually watching on digital cable is G4, you know there's a problem (this was during the time when Toon Disney became completely unwatchable and Nicktoons Network didn't show up until a few weeks after we cancelled the subscription).

[.bg]

That technology must be VERY expensive and flimsy, so I doubt it'll even see most US states let alone the other side of the pond anytime soon.

I also strongly doubt Comcast will ever follow through on this. Nobody wants to be implicated in all the lawsuits.

[TyUnlimited]

Wait, isn't this considered an invaision of privacy? If Google MAPS can't go below 200ft than this should have no way of happening.

[Beyond Batman]

If you think you should cancel your Comcast subscription, you might as well cancel your internet connection, destroy your credit cards and throw out your radios all together. Any source of media that allows for advertising can be tracked and measured for demographic and behavioral data.

[BrendaBat]

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.
''Body forms"? That wouldn't work out too well in my house. My 15-year-old little sister is 5'11" and I'm only 5'1". If I had that system in my house, I'd have to fetch her in order to watch Adult Swim and she'd be able to watch whatever the hell she wants. :sweat:

[Lavenderpaw]

''Body forms"? That wouldn't work out too well in my house. My 15-year-old little sister is 5'11" and I'm only 5'1". If I had that system in my house, I'd have to fetch her in order to watch Adult Swim and she'd be able to watch whatever the hell she wants. :sweat:

Wow,too weird.

I'm only 5'4! :eek: Come on though,they couldn't legally get away with spying on people through their own televisions.Maybe if it was a crook or murderer they needed to catch and suspected where they might live then sure,but I just don't think this will happen.Besides,I don't even have Comcast. *phew*

[johnny139]

...I'm probably the only one that thinks a little camera that gives me my favorite shows would be really, really cool. :sweat:

[Wounded_Dragon]

Wow,too weird.

I'm only 5'4! :eek: Come on though,they couldn't legally get away with spying on people through their own televisions.Maybe if it was a crook or murderer they needed to catch and suspected where they might live then sure,but I just don't think this will happen.Besides,I don't even have Comcast. *phew*

They can do a lot if they bury it in the fine print of the contract everyone has to sign.

[Ed Liu]

So there's no record for your actual appearance, no proof there's some central database storing such personal details, no proof this means some employee at a desk can see what you're doing, and the product in question is still in development and hasn't been tested.

I'm as much against big brother as anybody, but can we save outrage for real emergencies?

Sorry, but nothing that I've seen about this makes me think the invasion of privacy is justified. Comcast has no right or business to put a camera in my cable box for any reason. There is no "value added" I can see to a system like this that I can't get by a system like what TiVo offers. So what if a combination of Ninja Warrior, home-makeover shows, anime, Food Network, and BBC costume drama produces the weirdest set of recommendations ever? My wife and I get a kick out of that sometimes when Amazon.com gets horribly confused by our communal buying patterns.

I'm also positive that Comcast will find all kinds of additional reasons to prevent consumers from examining all their files to verify that none of that extra information you mention is being collected.

I'll be happy to kill off my cable service for satellite or a combination of iTunes/DVDs/free on-line viewing. I've been contemplating that anyway, considering how much I have to pay Comcast for cable when I only watch about a half-dozen channels regularly.

-- Ed

[Darklordavaitor]

It's a decent idea, but just very, very creepy. Like most else, I don't like the idea of someone spying on me, but I do like the idea of checking what non-Nelson families watch. Only checking body forms is a decent idea, but may not always give the accurate information required.

Maybe a less-invasive solution could be thought of.

[Silverstar]

Thankfully, I ditched Comcast and that dang-blasted box back in 2004; I've been a happy DirecTV customer ever since.

[Speedy Boris]

I'll be happy to kill off my cable service for satellite or a combination of iTunes/DVDs/free on-line viewing. I've been contemplating that anyway, considering how much I have to pay Comcast for cable when I only watch about a half-dozen channels regularly.

-- Ed DO IT. Trust me, it's worth it. Best monetary decision I ever made.

[macattack]

The Comcast cable in my house is probably going to be ditched in a matter of weeks anyway. I use DSL for the Internet so I don't have a problem in that regard . . .

[Dark Fact]

And for a brief moment I thought this was another one of George Dubya's silly suggestions for security in his "War On Terror". :rolleyes:

[The Irishman]

I've a quick question that's slightly off-topic:

If you get SKY Digital, you need a digibox. Now, SKY will give you a free one, but state that the box must be connectied to a phone jack 24/7. No I know the main reason for this is so that you can order movies from your armchair, but what's to say something else hasn't been going the other way when you're not ordering such? It would not surprise me in the least if SKY or any other provider knew exactly what you were watchig. And of course, they needn't know excatly who is watching due to target demographics, etc.

As for the camera. ask people if they'd like a CCTV camera in their house, that could be used by police to check for intruders. I sincerely doubt anyone would go for it.

[Dark Fact]

If you get SKY Digital, you need a digibox. Now, SKY will give you a free one, but state that the box must be connectied to a phone jack 24/7. No I know the main reason for this is so that you can order movies from your armchair, but what's to say something else hasn't been going the other way when you're not ordering such? It would not surprise me in the least if SKY or any other provider knew exactly what you were watchig. And of course, they needn't know excatly who is watching due to target demographics, etc.
Wouldn't they still charge you a rental fee for the digibox?

[Brandon Pierce]

I usually watch TV without clothes on, but if Comcast wants to see that, well so be it.

[The Irishman]

Wouldn't they still charge you a rental fee for the digibox?

Nope. It's yours to keep.

[BartWinkle]

A brother of mine, who lives back in the city, has been saying he will junk his cable for the dish. Another ex-Comcast customer.

[Daxdiv]

I usually watch TV without clothes on, but if Comcast wants to see that, well so be it.

That the kind of thing that I wouldn't want to see if I worked at Comcast.

[Weatherman]

I usually watch TV without clothes on, but if Comcast wants to see that, well so be it.


Not to mention what else people do on their couches....

Wow, this is what Comcast is wastign that 100+ bucks a month I pay them on? The minute I live in a place Verizon has wired up I'm kicking Comcrud to the curb.

[TheVofSteel]

Ah crap, I'm a Comcast subscriber. I've wanted DirecTV really badly even before I got Comcast Digital Cable back in 2002, but my folks don't seem to want to switch to another service just yet. I also use Comcast High Speed Internet.

Well...actually, my dad can't stand Comcast, and would drop it in a heartbeat (if it wasn't for me and my sisters that use the internet a lot and actually watch some of the digital 100-numbered channels) But I don't think he would pick up another digital cable or satellite service.

[Harvey Two Face]

I think any corporation that spies on it's clients should be ransacked and burnt to the ground.

[Cartoon_Kid]

How stupid is this?
Spying on the living room?
Retarted.