Verizon's Creepy Idea to Spy on TV Viewers

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A couple snuggling in front of the TV could end up getting
bombarded by commercials for romantic vacations, flowers or even
condoms and birth control pills. That creepy invasion-of-privacy
scenario comes from a Verizon patent idea that envisions spying
on TV viewers for the sake of serving up related ads.

Verizon aims to track the behavior of TV watchers as they sing
happy songs, play with a pet dog, or enjoy some supposedly
private time with a loved one on the couch. The tracking system
would then search terms related to the behaviors it sees — such
as "cuddling" or "romance" — and present viewers with TV ads
related to that topic during commercial breaks, according to the
patent filing first discovered by
FierceCable.

The romance scenario is just one example detailed in the patent
filing. But Verizon also describes the capability to detect a
person's mood from whether he or she is singing or humming a
"happy" song, so that it can select ads geared for happy people.

Similar patent filing examples include fighting, wrestling,
playing a
game or somehow competing with another person. The system
could also identify objects such as pets, soft drink cans or a
bag of chips in a person's hand, and room decorations or
furniture.

The patent filing even suggests the tracking system communicating
with whatever smartphone or tablet a TV viewer might happen to
have in his or her hands. That would allow Verizon to sneak a
look at the websites a person is browsing, read email drafts or
see what e-book he or she is reading. [ Spy
App Can Turn Smartphones Against You ]

Such a patent idea would turn TV set-top boxes into spy boxes
with sensors for both seeing and hearing the activity in front of
the TV. Many TV viewers already own such set-top boxes to access
pay-per-view services, digital video recordings and Internet
streaming.

The patent was filed back on May 26, 2011. But it only appeared
on the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office's website on Nov. 29,
2012, because all patent applications are published after 18
months, according to
Ars Technica.

Plenty of e-commerce and social media websites already track
people's personal information and online habits. Many video games
also track the virtual behavior of gamers for the sake of
improving future game design or providing feedback on their
in-game progress.

The almost constant online tracking has allowed websites such as
Facebook and Google to try serving up ads related to whatever
online information is available about a person. But the Verizon
idea crosses the divide between the digital and real worlds to
extract information by essentially monitoring people's behaviors
in real life — an intrusion that many people may find extremely
uncomfortable.

Still, the patent filing may not end up getting approved.
Companies file patents on plenty of ideas that never become a
reality. But whatever the case, the Verizon idea may end up
getting as much public disapproval as Microsoft's patent filing
aimed at
tracking employee behavior at work.