It seems that Samsung’s smart TVs are failing to encrypt voice commands, after the company warned users not to discuss private information in front of their sets. The tech giant has now admitted that some of its TVs are uploading owner voices to the internet in unencrypted form, making it easier for hackers to spy on Samsung customers.
The matter was made public by cybersecurity experts. Samsung have responded to the news, saying that it a new code will soon be released to protect smart TV owners. The company said: “Samsung takes consumer privacy very seriously and our products are designed with privacy in mind…Our latest Smart TV models are equipped with data encryption and a software update will soon be available for download on other models.”
The company decided to update their privacy policy after the original words implied that TVs were recording and transmitting everything said in front of them. Some sets were also accidentally adding adverts to programmes. Privacy campaigners are concerned that the TVs could allow hackers, governments and ISP’s to eavesdrop on conversations. Experts have said that the problem is an easy one to solve and simply requires the full use of SSL technology. Tech owners were recently told that loss of privacy would become inevitable in the future.
