www/proprietary malware-appliances.html proprie...

[Therese Godefroy]

CVSROOT:        /webcvs/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Therese Godefroy <th_g> 19/02/22 05:56:46

Modified files:
        proprietary    : malware-appliances.html 
                         proprietary-surveillance.html proprietary.html 
        proprietary/workshop: mal.rec 

Log message:
        Smart TVs that spy (www-discuss 2019-02-21).

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/proprietary/malware-appliances.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.66&r2=1.67
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/proprietary/proprietary-surveillance.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.240&r2=1.241
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/proprietary/proprietary.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.82&r2=1.83
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/proprietary/workshop/mal.rec?cvsroot=www&r1=1.41&r2=1.42

Patches:
Index: malware-appliances.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /webcvs/www/www/proprietary/malware-appliances.html,v
retrieving revision 1.66
retrieving revision 1.67
diff -u -b -r1.66 -r1.67
--- malware-appliances.html     9 Feb 2019 22:50:52 -0000       1.66
+++ malware-appliances.html     22 Feb 2019 10:56:45 -0000      1.67
@@ -54,6 +54,30 @@
     permanently.</p>
   </li>
 
+  <li id="M201901070">
+    <p>Vizio TVs
+    
https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18172397/airplay-2-homekit-vizio-tv-bill-baxter-interview-vergecast-ces-2019
+    collect “whatever the TV sees,” in the own words of the company's
+    CTO, and this data is sold to third parties. This is in return for
+    &ldquo;better service&rdquo; (meaning more intrusive ads?) and slightly
+    lower retail prices.</p>
+
+    <p>What is supposed to make this spying acceptable, according to him,
+    is that it is opt-in in newer models. But since the Vizio software is
+    nonfree, we don't know what is actually happening behind the scenes,
+    and there is no guarantee that all future updates will leave the
+    settings unchanged.</p>
+
+    <p>If you already own a Vizio smart TV (or any smart TV, for that
+    matter), the easiest way to make sure it isn't spying on you is
+    to disconnect it from the Internet, and use a terrestrial antenna
+    instead. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Another option,
+    if you are technically oriented, is to get your own router (which can
+    be an old computer running completely free software), and set up a
+    firewall to block connections to Vizio's servers. Or, as a last resort,
+    you can replace your TV with another model.</p>
+  </li>
+
   <li id="M201810300">
     <p>Nearly all &ldquo;home security cameras&rdquo; <a
     
href="https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/d-link-camera-poses-data-security-risk--consumer-reports-finds/";>
@@ -826,7 +850,7 @@
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2019/02/09 22:50:52 $
+$Date: 2019/02/22 10:56:45 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>

Index: proprietary-surveillance.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /webcvs/www/www/proprietary/proprietary-surveillance.html,v
retrieving revision 1.240
retrieving revision 1.241
diff -u -b -r1.240 -r1.241
--- proprietary-surveillance.html       20 Feb 2019 11:44:40 -0000      1.240
+++ proprietary-surveillance.html       22 Feb 2019 10:56:45 -0000      1.241
@@ -1370,6 +1370,30 @@
 before Amazon &ldquo;smart&rdquo; TVs.</p>
 
 <ul class="blurbs">
+  <li id="M201901070">
+    <p>Vizio TVs
+    
https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18172397/airplay-2-homekit-vizio-tv-bill-baxter-interview-vergecast-ces-2019
+    collect “whatever the TV sees,” in the own words of the company's
+    CTO, and this data is sold to third parties. This is in return for
+    &ldquo;better service&rdquo; (meaning more intrusive ads?) and slightly
+    lower retail prices.</p>
+
+    <p>What is supposed to make this spying acceptable, according to him,
+    is that it is opt-in in newer models. But since the Vizio software is
+    nonfree, we don't know what is actually happening behind the scenes,
+    and there is no guarantee that all future updates will leave the
+    settings unchanged.</p>
+
+    <p>If you already own a Vizio smart TV (or any smart TV, for that
+    matter), the easiest way to make sure it isn't spying on you is
+    to disconnect it from the Internet, and use a terrestrial antenna
+    instead. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Another option,
+    if you are technically oriented, is to get your own router (which can
+    be an old computer running completely free software), and set up a
+    firewall to block connections to Vizio's servers. Or, as a last resort,
+    you can replace your TV with another model.</p>
+  </li>
+
   <li id="M201804010">
     <p>Some &ldquo;Smart&rdquo; TVs automatically <a
     
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180405014828/https:/twitter.com/buro9/status/980349887006076928";>
@@ -2119,7 +2143,7 @@
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2019/02/20 11:44:40 $
+$Date: 2019/02/22 10:56:45 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>

Index: proprietary.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /webcvs/www/www/proprietary/proprietary.html,v
retrieving revision 1.82
retrieving revision 1.83
diff -u -b -r1.82 -r1.83
--- proprietary.html    21 Feb 2019 13:39:45 -0000      1.82
+++ proprietary.html    22 Feb 2019 10:56:45 -0000      1.83
@@ -146,6 +146,30 @@
 <h3 id="latest">Latest additions</h3>
 
 <ul class="blurbs">
+  <li id="M201901070">
+    <p>Vizio TVs
+    
https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18172397/airplay-2-homekit-vizio-tv-bill-baxter-interview-vergecast-ces-2019
+    collect “whatever the TV sees,” in the own words of the company's
+    CTO, and this data is sold to third parties. This is in return for
+    &ldquo;better service&rdquo; (meaning more intrusive ads?) and slightly
+    lower retail prices.</p>
+
+    <p>What is supposed to make this spying acceptable, according to him,
+    is that it is opt-in in newer models. But since the Vizio software is
+    nonfree, we don't know what is actually happening behind the scenes,
+    and there is no guarantee that all future updates will leave the
+    settings unchanged.</p>
+
+    <p>If you already own a Vizio smart TV (or any smart TV, for that
+    matter), the easiest way to make sure it isn't spying on you is
+    to disconnect it from the Internet, and use a terrestrial antenna
+    instead. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Another option,
+    if you are technically oriented, is to get your own router (which can
+    be an old computer running completely free software), and set up a
+    firewall to block connections to Vizio's servers. Or, as a last resort,
+    you can replace your TV with another model.</p>
+  </li>
+
   <li id="M201902200">
     <p>Some portable surveillance
     devices (&ldquo;phones&rdquo;) now have <a
@@ -175,6 +199,25 @@
     
href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/06/iphone-session-replay-screenshots/";>
     recording all the users' actions</a> in interacting with the app.</p>
   </li>
+
+  <li id="M201902010">
+    <p>An investigation of the 150 most popular
+    gratis VPN apps in Google Play found that <a
+    href="https://www.top10vpn.com/free-vpn-android-app-risk-index/";>
+    25% fail to protect their users’ privacy</a> due to DNS leaks. In
+    addition, 85% feature intrusive permissions or functions in their
+    source code&mdash;often used for invasive advertising&mdash;that could
+    potentially also be used to spy on users. Other technical flaws were
+    found as well.</p>
+
+    <p>Moreover, a previous investigation had found that <a
+    href="https://www.top10vpn.com/free-vpn-app-investigation/";>half of
+    the top 10 gratis VPN apps have lousy privacy policies</a>.</p>
+
+    <p>It is unfortunate that these articles talk about &ldquo;free
+    apps.&rdquo; These apps are gratis, but they are <em>not</em> <a
+    href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>.</p>
+  </li>
 </ul>
 
 
@@ -235,7 +278,7 @@
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2019/02/21 13:39:45 $
+$Date: 2019/02/22 10:56:45 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>

Index: workshop/mal.rec
===================================================================
RCS file: /webcvs/www/www/proprietary/workshop/mal.rec,v
retrieving revision 1.41
retrieving revision 1.42
diff -u -b -r1.41 -r1.42
--- workshop/mal.rec    21 Feb 2019 13:39:46 -0000      1.41
+++ workshop/mal.rec    22 Feb 2019 10:56:46 -0000      1.42
@@ -25,6 +25,35 @@
 ####    Please don't remove the blank line after this marker!    ####
 # ADD NEW BLURB HERE
 
+Added: 2019-02-22
+Id: 201901070
+RT: www-discuss 2019-02-21 ("smart" TVs that spy)
+PubDate: 2019-01-07
+Target: proprietary-surveillance.html SpywareInTVSets
+Target: malware-appliances.html malware-appliances
+Keywords: Vizio
+Blurb: <p>Vizio TVs
++   
https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18172397/airplay-2-homekit-vizio-tv-bill-baxter-interview-vergecast-ces-2019
++   collect “whatever the TV sees,” in the own words of the company's
++   CTO, and this data is sold to third parties. This is in return for
++   &ldquo;better service&rdquo; (meaning more intrusive ads?) and slightly
++   lower retail prices.</p>
++
++   <p>What is supposed to make this spying acceptable, according to him,
++   is that it is opt-in in newer models. But since the Vizio software is
++   nonfree, we don't know what is actually happening behind the scenes,
++   and there is no guarantee that all future updates will leave the
++   settings unchanged.</p>
++
++   <p>If you already own a Vizio smart TV (or any smart TV, for that
++   matter), the easiest way to make sure it isn't spying on you is
++   to disconnect it from the Internet, and use a terrestrial antenna
++   instead. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Another option,
++   if you are technically oriented, is to get your own router (which can
++   be an old computer running completely free software), and set up a
++   firewall to block connections to Vizio's servers. Or, as a last resort,
++   you can replace your TV with another model.</p>
+
 Added: 2019-02-21
 Id: 201902200
 RT: 1362116