Are Modern-Day Smart TVs Safe? The Answer In This New Study Might Shock You

Watching television is one of the most common pastimes around the globe. Today, smart TVs are on the rise but did you ever consider how you might not just be watching alone?

A new report from expert academicians from the US, UK, and Spain shed light on the real world of smart TVs. They all include ACR or Automatic Content Recognition tech and it’s not something new.

Streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu used it for years and now, growing evidence suggests how tracking by third parties has reached at alarming levels. It’s quite like capturing whatever content is on the screen and matching it with content databases to see what’s on display at any moment in time.

Thanks to this latest research, we’re learning more about how third-party tracking inside smart TVs isn’t discussed as much as it should. This is because the test included leading tech brands in TV, LG, and Samsung. In the results, the authors concluded how ACR operates even in those states when there is a dumb display.

This kind of tracking is done directly through smart TV apps operating through the system. As per researchers, it captures scenes, develops fingerprints, and even shares them with ACR servers to match with databases of known material like movies, ads, and even live feeds.

When fingerprints match, ACR servers can determine which content is being seen on the screen. This enables the platforms to profile any watchers through the TV into specific audiences. So the company benefits in terms of tracking users for personalized ads.

We’ve already seen South Korean tech giant Samsung be called out in 2015 for the actions of collecting users’ personal data through voice recognition. As per the company, they take privacy very seriously and admitted to curating products with this theme in mind.

As per the study, smart TVs are all over the house. They can be inside bedrooms, lounge areas, or living rooms. Furthermore, they feature microphones and cameras that give access to habits and personal data. In terms of the ACR, fingerprints match with servers to identify the kind of content seen. So in this case, the viewing habits are out in the open.

What was interesting in this research is that ACR data wasn’t collected when using YouTube or Netflix. This might be related to copyright issues which make the process complex. For instance, Netflix likes to have ACR deactivated while streaming content for users. Other cases might have to do with the fact that they actually do care about users’ privacy.

In the study, the authors were able to conclude that configuring devices to opt-out can prevent traffic from any ACR domain. But that process is not very simple. It requires intricate navigation via different settings in several subsections and there’s no simple switch to toggle off either.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

AI Wins Big At This Year’s Nobel Prize Awards As Pioneers Who Laid Groundwork For LLMs & Generative AI Hailed

The contributions made by two pioneers in the world of AI were acknowledged at this year’s Nobel Prize Awards.

Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield were rewarded for setting the groundwork of Large Language Models and Generative AI. They were also hailed for their massive contributions in this domain, linked to the world of physics.

Arising from the University of Toronto, Geoffrey Hinton was given the award for all his work in the field of backpropagation. Today, he’s known as the godfather of AI and also made the news last year for his great contributions.

Many call him the godfather of AI who used to work for Google in the past. He quit in 2023 as he felt he couldn’t speak more openly against the risks that AI comes with. This is the technology that he spent a lot of time making.

Backpropagation is a technique that dates back to the 80s and is a concept that allows algorithms to learn. You can think of it like a three-step process comprising of noticing errors, figuring out reasons why, and improving. In the end, thousands of pictures are under review and this robot gets better at finding the correct answer. So this is how a computer learns.

On the other hand, the other big winner at this year’s event was John Hopfield who came up with the concept of associative memory. He came up with computer memory that is similar to the human mind. It’s quite like linking the dots of information.

The reason why this concept is so famous has to do with how it can withstand unclear information. So the perfect example is trying to decipher noise in a crowded room full of people. Hopfield tried to ensure computers could recall data in a way that human minds could. So he designed software that could recognize patterns and fill in algorithms.

Both these mega contributions have given rise to the world of AI as can see it today. The honor came with a mega $1M cheque. The award is a prestigious honor that includes accomplishments related to the world of science, health, literature, economics, physics, and peace.

Image: Nobel Prize / Niklas Elmehed

Read next: Researchers Identify Key Thinking Patterns Behind Excessive Social Media Usage
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Researchers Identify Key Thinking Patterns Behind Excessive Social Media Usage

According to a new research published in Addictive Behaviors, there is a strong relationship between psychological distress and social media use. Everyone nowadays has social media presence and they are used for social interactions frequently. But the constant use of social media sites has proven to be problematic. When an individual obsessively uses social media, it leads to a lot of negative effects like abandoning responsibilities, social isolation and rise of mental health issues.

The study aimed to provide insights into cognitive processes that lead to problematic or negative social media use. The researchers said that a lot of worry and distress or thinking about desires can lead to harmful social media use. For the study, the researchers gathered 548 social media users with average ages of 29 years. The participants were asked to complete some psychological assessments like the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21, the Ruminative Response Scale, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire and the 10-item Desire Thinking Questionnaire.

The results of this activity confirmed the researchers’ suspicions. It showed that psychological distress leads to extended thinking styles like desire thinking, worry and rumination which leads to excessive social media use. Keep in mind that the study doesn’t talk about cause and effect. It just talks about the relationship between problematic social media use and extending thinking and distress.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Balancing Accuracy and Caution: How Google Handles AI Overviews for Sensitive Subjects

A new study is shedding light on Google’s AI Overviews and how the Android maker likes to take on a conservative approach to all AI content in search.

As per the data obtained, any sensitive themes like mental health, politics, legal, and health will be limited. The company makes it a point to restrict Overviews related to these domains with results showing up only 50% of the time.

Meanwhile, other interesting findings spoke bout how AI Overviews related to topics like finance and medicine will feature disclaimers as warnings. The goal is to discourage heavy reliance on the results and focus more on consulting a professional from the field.

As a whole, Google likes to avoid any AI Overviews for mental health, elections, and specific drugs. In this new study rolled out by SE Ranking, how the company handles AI content is on display, especially those deemed sensitive like Your Money Your Life matters.

The study also took into consideration nearly 1,200 keywords related to sensitive domains and found how careful Google has become when rolling out overviews. It’s great to see that, especially after the massive amount of criticism it’s gotten over time.

Legal questions were the most frequently encountered by the search engine while health followed up closely behind. Finance saw moderate results while politics had the least number of AI Overviews getting generated. Clearly, this shows Google’s efforts to curb misinformation online linked to the upcoming elections.

There appears to be a balanced approach in terms of providing correct data and motivating users to get expert advice. This must always be encouraged because everyone likes to rely on Google as their only savior.

The research also goes to show how often Google rolls out disclaimers in terms of AI Overviews when it thinks warnings are necessary. Other sensitive topics where AIOs are avoided include COVID-19, abortions, substance abuse, and eating disorders.

Going back to Google and its hands-off approach for AIOs on politics, the study showed how specific key terms had zero overviews generated for them. These words include election, president, and presidential. This method is different from that seen on other search engines like SearchGPT which does generate responses to such matters.

The take-home message here is that Google wants only well-sourced material to be published online with refined keywords and diversified content.

Read next: Security Researcher Claims Latest Pixel Smartphones Send Location Data To Google Servers Even With GPS Disabled
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Security Researcher Claims Latest Pixel Smartphones Send Location Data To Google Servers Even With GPS Disabled

If the constant fear of your smartphone device spying on you or tracking your location is worrisome, you might want to read on.

A new report by researcher from Cybernews is raising the curtain on a new form of Google surveillance on the rise, even with GPS disabled. Yes, it’s always like you cannot get rid of a feature that sends secret data to Google servers from your device.

What is even more worrisome is how the device routinely tries to download new codes and that gives rise to more security risks.

Thanks to Ernestas Naprys, a study was carried out with Google’s new Pixel 9 pro XL which entailed default settings and new Google accounts. Traffic was proxied and a customized security certificate examined all the activities and chats. Rooting the device did disable a few features.

Since the testing arose with new accounts set to default, no effect were seen in terms of changes done to privacy and security. Every 15 minutes or so, Naprys saw packets of data sent from the phone to Google servers. Moreover, the device shared location, numbers, status of the network, and even email IDs.

To be more specific, the data was traced to endpoints at Google including its Face Grouping and Policy Enforcement. While we agree that some clear sensitivities do exist in terms of other private information, location data is very sensitive. Remember, someone could be tracking your data including your live location.

Above all, it’s being done without user consent and without them being aware. Now experts are looking down deep at the several reasons why collection of this information might be needed to get certain features up and running. But the fact that communication is arising with servers that users have zero consent to is eyebrow-raising.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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• Meta Says It’s Aware Threads Has An ‘Engagement Bait’ Issue

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Meta Says It’s Aware Threads Has An ‘Engagement Bait’ Issue

Instagram boss Adam Mosseri is reassuring Threads users that the company is aware of the app’s engagement bait problems.

If you’re an avid user of the app, we’re sure you must have seen plenty of clickbait content popping up, time and time again. The good news is you’re not the only one and Meta is working to fix the problem.

The news comes after a flood of comments by users regarding the problem made its way to the comments section. People did everything to ensure Meta was aware of the issue and now, Mosseri says the tech giant is working to bring things under control.

This type of post usually entails posts featuring invites, chats, or banal questions. The main goal is to get people to interact more. Remember, the platform’s algorithm is quite like Instagram. You’ll see more algorithmic feeds and that would get more reactions and before you know it, simple posts get viral.

Remember, Zuckerberg already stated in December last year how comment engagement is the way to go and that’s what makes X and Threads so similar.

However, the Instagram CEO feels not every comment or reply on a post is always good. For instance, bait posts feature AI-based pictures. Sometimes, replies go as far as 17K in no time and for no good reason. This might be used to abuse the app’s algorithm.

Any post that has the greatest number of comments will be given top priority when compared to those that have more shares or likes. This plays to the app’s tactics of playing with the algorithm, which rewards creators depending on how their posts are doing. So even if the post is fake, it’s still racking up comments.

One rep from Meta who chose to keep their identity hidden says post replies are always considered to see which posts should be recommended to users’ feeds. Now the question is when the issue will be resolved as no final data was revealed for now.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Google Play May Be Forced To Make Huge Changes After Judge Calls Out Its Illegal Monopoly Behavior

An American judge is ruling against Google Play Store, calling it an illegal monopoly.

The Android App Store may now be forced to make some major changes after the ruling, including opening up to other app stores owned by third parties. This was always frowned upon by Google but now it seems like it may have no other choice.

The list of controversial changes entails allowing so many third-party app stores to be present on Google Play in the next couple of years as per a new injunction rolled out on Thursday. Additionally, third-party Android stores will get permission to access its catalog of applications. This would break down any of the app ecosystem which guards it from others.

Other changes that might come into play include promoting healthy competition. By this, we mean enabling other app stores on Android to emerge. Previously, the company had contracts in place to stop this from happening.

"The Epic verdict missed the obvious: Apple and Android clearly compete. We will appeal and ask the courts to pause implementing the remedies to maintain a consistent and safe experience for users and developers as the legal process moves forward.", expressed Google in a blog post.

The court has similarly ruled against any form of deals that comprise revenue sharing linked to Google Play. Amongst those will include contracts with device manufacturers at Android that force pre-installing of Google Play on any device.

The news comes as the Epic Games antitrust lawsuit picks up the pace against the search engine giant, going as far back as 2020. During this time, Google removed Fortnite from its Play Store after Epic put another mode of payment. As a result, Google was denied a share of the revenue.

Thankfully, the court ruled against Google and Epic won the battle. The next couple of months were spent on finding out a solution. Now, the latest court order means forcing Google to open new in-app systems for payment on the Play Store. To be more exact, for three years, Google hasn’t prevented developers from interacting with users about the pricing of apps outside the Play Store.

As far as when the changes will come into play, the court says it’s giving Google three years. They want to see the tech giant become a team player by leveling the playing field. This means saying hello to competition and new rivals in the tech industry.

Many experts are questioning why only three years. In response to that, the court says that it does not wish to burden or constrain Google as a competitor.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World