Vizio Settles 'Spying TV' Lawsuit Filed By NJ Attorney General
by Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Vizio has settled a lawsuit filed by New Jersey's attorney general and the Federal Trade Commission over allegations of spying televisions.
Across millions of its TV screens, Vizio collected billions of pieces of data each day, according to the complaint, and then sold the information to advertisers and others.
The company called it "smart interactivity," but the Garden State's top cop and the FTC say the feature neither warned of the tracking, nor made "program offers and suggestions" as promised.
The complaint says Vizio TVs gleaned information from cable and broadband providers, DVD and streaming devices, even the very pixels on the screen.
To sell it, the government alleges Vizio tacked on demographic details like sex, age, and income to increase the value for targeted advertisers.
In a statement, Vizio says it's "now leading the way" among smart TV makers in protecting privacy.
The company also must pay more than $2 million to New Jersey and the feds as part of the settlement.