h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The researcher sems to have touched very briefly on this, but I think more importance needs to be attached to it.
After reading what web sites as [URL removed by Moderator] or [URL removed by Moderator] have to offer, I remain sceptical about the amount of information that TiVo will transmit to your cable provider.
When you say that when the TiVo needs 3 hours to set up when you first install it , what its probably doing is dialling up its home, and either a) setting up a folder with your name and address on it or b) updating its firmware/software. Point a) you may say, "paranoid!" and point b) you may say,"so what?".

Well, first off, if you look at the way iTV (interactive TV) is marketed to the consumer, and the way it is marketed to advertising companies, you will see two very different view points: To the consumer, companies will say, "iTV - where you can buy products, repeat your favourite shows over and over etc. etc.". However, to the advertising industry, they are much more likely to say, "optimizes revenue opportunities by providing rich personalization and targeting of content and ads to consumers based on their television viewing and Web surfing histories and preferences."[Microsoft TV server] , and, "Changing channels, selecting certain programs, viewing habits, browsing through interactive sites, purchasing habits, all that kind of stuff we can track. Every click, we can track. We will be recording that information." [Phil Swain, Cable and Wireless]. All this information will go into a little folder on their systems and start gathering data about you. Scarier still, Pat Dade of Synergy Consulting has come up with the idea of "Psycographic Value Groups", and has this to say on the matter, "Let’s say that the hypothesis is that an inner-directed person, if they watched da-da-da, would react in such and such a way. Now you can test that. You can test that at the end of each time, because you’re starting with the question ‘Can we change or reinforce behavior based on this information?". Can we change or re-inforce behaviour? That was from a person involved in the lobbying to reduce the strength of the privacy section in the cable act 1984. [Pat Dade was one of the guys that worked on Echelon]

Point b): Well, this might not matter to you. However, consider this idea: your computer; everything thats installed on it, you have installed. You know what the software does, and when it does it. The 2-way connection that TiVo will bring to your home will mean that the cable company will be able to put whatever software they like on it - you won't have any control. Again, you may say, "Who cares?". Well, how disturbed would you be if someone put software you didn't know about on your home PC? Software of this nature is generally bad, such as Viruses or Trojan Horses (the SubSeven program is an excellent example - for detailed info about this trojan and how to remove it, check out [URL removed by Moderator]), and you wouldn't like it to be there.

Ok, so lets say that with both these points, you might not care about. Legislation is there to protect our online privacy. Well, surprise, surprise, even this avenue is being worked on. For a start, Law lags woefully behind the speed of development on the net, and will always be so. However, there IS legislation there to protect us - at the moment, but for only certain aspects. The Cable act of 1984 is fairly strong, in the respect of protecting subscribers' privacy. The satellite act is very much weaker. Lobbying and campaigning by the iTV companies is currently going on to bring the cable act into line with the satellite act before 'anybody realises what is going on'; More public spirited indivduals (that's not a third person reference to me) are lobbying for the satellite act to be brought into line with the cable act (i.e. make satellite act stronger). Cynicism tells me which side will get what they want.

You may think me very paranoid, and tell me to 'Get Real - there's no consipracy" Correct. There IS no conspiracy, just a bunch of companies that want to make *billions* from us by customising adverts definitely to the family level, maybe even to the individual level.
Why should they?

So, to summarise: Whether you want to believe me or not, I don't think we should embrace interactive teevee as quickly as we are doing, and there might be far-reaching consequences for letting the big cable companies get away with it. Please examine available information and your feelings about this matter, then make up your own mind, and vote with your wallet.

FF.

[quotes taken from [URL removed by Moderator] and [URL removed by Moderator] websites]

FF, I thought the biggest advantage of TiVO was that you could choose to skip over the ads! Now, if they were to flash upgrade it to prevent that, that would be a whole new issue... The people who had bought their boxes outright might have a strong case for compensation or even bringing criminal charges on the grounds of "Cyber-Vandalism"!

There may be something in what you say. Never really thought of that angle: after all, how will the cable companies sell their interactive TV data to advertisers if the very medium skips over the ads? However, I freely admit that I may have ambushed the TiVo to put other ideas across which occurred to me, all based on i-TV, of which TiVo is a small niche of the overall market.

except for a few things.

This is not 'iTV' the way you're thinking of. There's really nothing interactive about it. This is not like WebTV, where you are actively playing Jeopardy as the game plays on your TV. While you have some good points about the issue of privacy with interactive television (and indeed with anything that comes up with some transparent reason to allow a person to be tracked, like many websites), the TiVo isn't in the same field.

The information about viewing habits is anonymous, as I stated in the article (I called TiVo and talked to people there about this to be sure I had the information correct); the closest it gets to identifying a household is to your zip code; at no point does it associate the information with your name, address, phone number, etc., and as mentioned, can be opted out of. TiVo actually does a much better job of making sure you know you can opt out of it than most of the other digital recording devices out there (finding out how to opt out of tracking for the Microsoft jobbie is a chore)

If, TiVo tell you, and make it easy to opt out of, then yes, that is good! (and unusual). At the moment, digital broadcasting companies want you to opt in, and will effectively charge you to opt out. (Sky for example). However, as you say, TiVo isn't a broadcasting company. Do you know who owns them?

From the "TiVo inc." link on their website, it would seem that they are independent. They make their cash by forcing you ro pay for the schedule downloads - the website explicitly states the box won't function without them, and you have to pay for them. So, each box is a perpetual revenue stream in itself, without having to pander to the wishes of advertisers...

News just In:

TiVo is owned by AOL Time Warner. Don't need to tell you that its one of the biggest companies in the world, and that data collected about you will not go any further than the group - which happens to be quite large.

News just In:

TiVo is owned by AOL Time Warner. Don't need to tell you that its one of the biggest companies in the world, and that data collected about you will not go any further than the group - which happens to be quite large.

News just In:

TiVo is owned by AOL Time Warner. Don't need to tell you that its one of the biggest companies in the world, and that data collected about you will not go any further than the group - which happens to be quite large.

Wow.
Wow.
Wow.