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Vizio Had Smart TVs Spy On Their Owners To Sell The Data

TVs were updated in February 2014 to collect usage data.

By: Ethan Weston

Posted at 10:01 PM, Feb 06, 2017

and last updated 2017-02-06 22:01:00-05

If you owned a Vizio Smart TV any time after February 2014, it might have been spying on you.

A complaint filed Monday by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said the smart TVs used software that spied on owners' viewing habits without their permission. Vizio then sold that data to third-parties.

In a statement to Engadget, the company said the program didn't pair viewing data with "personally identifiable information."

Vizio has already decided to settle. Among other things, the company will pay the FTC $1.5 million and delete all data collected before March 2016.

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