Privacy Tech Alert: Your home devices, specifically smart TVs and wireless routers, are monitoring and selling data about your physical movements within your house, including where you go and when.
The core issue involves two devices: Smart TVs tracking physical movement and Wi-Fi routers tracking location, with both sets of data being sold.
TV Motion Tracking
Starting with smart TVs: A recent news report from 9to5 Google mentions a new Google TV set with ‘presence sensing’ capabilities, though the expensive price is irrelevant. The focus is on Google TV adding support for TVs with ‘present sensing’ hardware. This also coincides with Google switching from Google Assistant to Gemini on many Google TV devices, including those from TCL.
Crucially, the TCL QM9K, the first Google TV with built-in presence sensing hardware, uses mmWave radios. This technology allows the TV to detect a person’s presence in the room, subsequently activating the TV or a screen saver, and it can adjust based on a user’s preferences and distance.
AI Selling TV Data
Regarding Gemini, it is a service, similar to Microsoft’s AI, that should be avoided. These AI services, even the free versions, are designed to collect and sell all user data. I previously discussed how companies like Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, are paid by Microsoft for access to Facebook chat messages, highlighting the malicious nature of companies like Microsoft and Google.
Google is now integrating Gemini into their Smart TV functions. This means every action on Google TV—from opening Netflix and watching content to clicking on specific apps—will be scanned by Gemini and sent back to Google to be sold.
Gemini records this activity, sends it to servers, and sells the data, mirroring practices already used with Android devices.
Your Activity Sold
The motion-sensing hardware is even more concerning. This radio technology will likely determine height, allowing them to differentiate users—for example, a child, a wife, or me, the tallest person in the house. They will then track and sell data based on individual viewing patterns.
Hypothetically, the system could identify me (the tallest person) using motion sensing. If I then select my Netflix profile, the system registers: the tallest person just passed the sensor, now the system will record this data and know who it is based on the profile name they selected.
It will learn my habits—when I enter the room (e.g., after work, on a weekend evening) and what I typically watch. Based on my Netflix example, it knows my height. If I click on Plex, which is a shared service, it can still determine that I (based on my height) is watching, read all the on-screen text within the Plex app, and send that data back to Google. This constitutes a severe privacy issue.
Some users question how the system knows when someone is just walking through versus intending to watch TV, given the article mentions it might only activate a screen saver. That detail is irrelevant. The core problem is the need for this tracking at all, which is done solely to sell your personal data.
Routers Tracking Your Movement
Shifting to routers and data sales: An older report from July reminded me to address the new Xfinity router motion-detecting feature, which uses Wi-Fi signals for tracking. While motion tracking via Wi-Fi is not a new concept, it is alarming when implemented by ISPs (internet service providers) like Xfinity (a division of Comcast in the U.S.).
The system works by detecting when someone obstructs the signal field that travels between connected devices—like a printer, speakers, and the smart TV. Movement within the home’s signal field is logged as traversing the house.
The alarming part is buried deep in Comcast’s terms of service. By enabling this feature, users grant the company the right to collect and log data that can then be sold to advertisers. Even more concerning, Comcast’s policy states this data can be shared with law enforcement under a subpoena, without additional user consent.
While not a camera, it records patterns of when people are home. Consider a shared accommodation, like students living together (in a student rental home). If a crime is committed, law enforcement could use the Wi-Fi data to identify who was present. The system might mistakenly identify one person, “John Doe,” when another, “Jane Smith,” was the actual perpetrator. Though Jane was home, the data is circumstantial and could be misinterpreted, potentially leading to a false arrest. This technology serves no purpose other than the explicit goal of advertising.
How To Avoid These Issues
My advice is simple: Do not buy smart TVs. I once advocated for them, but I now regret that stance. If you must buy a smart TV for its picture quality, the solution is do not connect it to the internet. You do not need to connect the TV to the internet to use it. Instead, use a separate, trusted device: a Blu-ray player or a dedicated home theater PC running a privacy-focused OS like a Linux distribution (Windows has just turned into bloatware and spyware). This setup ensures you get the display quality you want without giving the manufacturer or services access to your private network or your movement data.
You should also avoid all products with presence-sensing technology. Show companies like Google and TCL that you reject this type of product.
Regarding router technology, you should not be using a router provided by your ISP. Based on personal experience in Canada, ISP-provided routers are generally of poor quality and terrible performance, even setting aside tracking concerns.
ISPs often use a two-in-one modem and router device. This single box receives the internet service (modem function) and broadcasts the Wi-Fi signal (router function). The solution is to put this box into bridge mode.
Bridge mode disables the router functionality of the ISP’s box, allowing it to act only as a modem that receives the internet signal. You then connect an Ethernet cable from the ISP’s box to your own high-quality router. If you need help with this, call your internet provider’s technical support; they can guide you through enabling bridge mode. Using your own router will provide a significantly better and more stable signal, and it removes the immediate threat of being tracked by ISP features like the Xfinity motion detection.
In summary, be cautious about the technology you buy. Many “nice-sounding” features are useless and exist only to facilitate the selling of your data.
