It should come as no surprise to those in the west what hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers discovered recently-- that their TV sets have been spying on them. It turns out Beijing-based Gozen Data, a leading Chinese TV viewership analytics firm, has been collecting personal data in real time using smart TVs — without users' consent.
The practice was first exposed when a user on V2EX, an online forum for tech enthusiasts, noticed their Skyworth-brand smart TV had become slow and analyzed the code of back-end programs to figure out why. What they found was a program that scans the user's Wi-Fi every 10 minutes and uploads a wide range of information to Gozen Data's website.
"What smart devices are used at home; whether your phone is at home; who is visiting and using your Wi-Fi; what's the name of your neighbor's Wi-Fi; all of these are constantly being collected and uploaded," the user wrote on April 22. The finding was later reposted on Weibo, attracting widespread concern.
Discussions about illegal data-collecting practices are common in China, but mostly center on smartphone apps, which Chinese regulators have been scrutinizing over the past year. This appears to be the first high-profile, publicly-disclosed instance of data security concerns centering on smart TVs.
Gozen Data says it has been working with smart TV makers since 2014 to embed its data collection program. Its reach appears vast-- before the scandal broke, Gozen Data's website said its data collection service covered 149 million households, 140 million smart TVs and 457 million people in China. The problem is, almost no TV watchers have known about the practice. Despite its reach, Gozen Data is not a widely-known name within China. After the news became widespread, Gozen removed the coverage numbers from its website.
Gozenj claimed that the data it collects is used to analyze a user's likes and enable personalized advertising-- but who can really be sure in a country like China? Gozen Data's website has taken down mentions of which TV makers partner with the company. Skyworth, the Chinese company that manufactured the particular smart TV set found to be uploading personal data, released an announcement that it had immediately disabled all Gozen Data services. A data partnership between Skyworth and Gozen that has been in place since 2014 has also been terminated.
The social media outrage against Gozen takes place amid a nationwide transition into smart-home lifestyle. As Chinese companies continue to introduce home appliances that connect to the internet, concerns about data security are on the rise. On Weibo, many users shared complaints on the security risks that exist when everything (including kitchen appliances, water heaters, lighting and personal electronics) all go "smart." "It's really unnecessary for many traditional appliances to connect to the Wi-Fi," says one comment. Chinese companies eyeing a lucrative market are forging ahead anyway.
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