How did Netflix reality show gather is data?
Can anyone watch TV alone? (Photo: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)
TV news was abuzz Thursday morning after Variety reported on a presentation by Alan Wurtzel, a president at NBCUniversal, who said that streaming shows weren’t cutting into broadcast television viewership to the degree that much of the press seems to believe. Mr. Wurtzel used numbers that estimated viewership using data gathered by mobile devices that listened to what people were watching and extrapolating viewership across the country.
Wait, what? It’s using the microphones on cell phones to listen? Who’s it listening in on?
The company behind the technology is called Symphony Advanced Media. The Observer spoke to its CEO Charles Buchwalter, about how it works, via phone. “Our entire focus is to add insights and perspectives on an entire new paradigm around how consumers are consuming media across platforms,” he told the Observer.
Cool, but is Symphony listening to viewers without their knowledge?
Short answer: pretty much no.
Symphony collects data with a similar strategy to Nielsen, by inviting users to opt-in to specific monitoring. Nielsen has the set meter and its paper diaries. Unlike Nielsen, Symphony uses a less direct strategy than a box on top of a TV to track what a viewer is watching, because not all the viewing is on TVs and not all the broadcasters want to be tracked.
For the privacy-conscious, Symphony’s app isn’t hidden inside other apps with permissions buried in user agreements no one reads.
Symphony asks those who opt in to load Symphony-branded apps onto their personal devices, apps that use microphones to listen to what’s going on in the background. With technology from Gracenote, the app can hear the show playing and identify it using its unique sound signature (the same way Shazam identifies a song playing over someone else’s speakers). Doing it that way allows the company to gather data on viewing of sites like Netflix and Hulu, whether the companies like it or not. (Netflix likes data)
It uses specific marketing to recruit “media insiders” into its system, who then download its app (there’s no way for consumers to get it without going through this process). In exchange, it pays consumers $5 in gift cards (and up) per month, depending on the number of devices he or she authorizes.
Potential insiders go through an online sign up process that asks them a bunch of questions about their media habits. So Symphony knows a bit more about them.
The company let the Observer go through the process. It doesn’t do much educating of its “media insiders” about just how much information they are turning over to the company, beyond giving them links to a terms of service and privacy policy.
One screen that screams out, “HEY WE ARE GONNA LISTEN TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING WITH THE MICROPHONE ON YOUR PHONE, ‘K, COOL?” would be dope, but no dice.
Still, at least they aren’t sneaking a microphone into your Bitmoji app, right? (which is effectively what a bunch of Chrome extensions recently did)
“We want everything we do to be passive,” Mr. Buchwalter said. The company has over 15,000 viewers now and expects to hit 20,000 media insiders this year. It would like to get that number up to about 50,000, eventually, he said, emphasizing that the company works to make sure that this sample represents the U.S. as a whole.
“We want to track individuals,” Mr. Buchwalter—a Nielsen alum—explained, because they want to compose a digital day in the life of Americans, all their cross platform activities, from websites to social to media viewing and reading. The problem with existing metrics companies, he argues, is they measure one media category at a time. That’s outdated.
Symphony has found that when ratings are scored over 35 days (rather than the industry standard of seven days after broadcast), it becomes clear that streaming is eating into broadcast viewing time, but not nearly as much as it might have seemed. It’s also clear that a lot of viewers watch broadcast TV on demand in much the say way they watch streaming TV. He said, “There’s a little bit of a sense that there’s more buzz to the transformative sense of streaming originals than there is reality.”
Here’s another reality: more and more electronic devices are able to listen to what we do all the time and glean insights. Mobile phones have to always be kind of listening so they can hear it when users give the activation command. Amazon Echo is listening, too, and it’s getting hard to tell just how much data gear gathers.
Like we’ve said: we are being watched.
Symphony may not be sneaking its surveillance model into innocuous looking apps with wildly different purposes, but that doesn’t mean some other company isn’t.
4 new scams you want to avoid in 2016
We told you about a lot of hot scams in 2015, including various email and tech support scams, Facebook hoaxes, credit card chip scams and the infamous IRS phone scam. And while these likely aren't going away, there are some new trends in the world of identity theft and phone fraud that you need to know about.
Consumer Reports spoke to David Dewey, director of research at Pindrop Security, a firm that provides anti-fraud detection technology for call centers and phone users, about the new trends we should expect to see in 2016 and how consumers can avoid them.
New scams to avoid in 2016
1. Government imposters
The IRS phone scam was a big one in 2015. It involves IRS impostors calling people and demanding immediate payment. In some cases they're also impersonating local law enforcement and threatening people with immediate arrest unless they send untraceable money amounting in the thousands of dollars for back taxes that you supposedly owe.
The way scammers convince people is by using phone spoofing, which makes the number they call from show up as "IRS" on the caller ID. If the scammer already has the last four digits of the person's Social Security number -- it makes them sound pretty legit.
Here are some of the tactics used by these scammers:
- They use common names and fake IRS badge numbers.
- They send bogus IRS e-mails to support their scam.
- They call a second time claiming to be the police or department of motor vehicles, and the caller ID again supports their claim.
- You're told to submit payment either by wire or by prepaid debit card.
But consumers who know that the IRS only contacts people via snail mail are one step ahead of the scammers, knowing that if they get that phone call, it must be a fake.
The new concern
A new provision included in the Congressional budget bill allows debt collectors to use robocall technology to contact anyone who owes a government debt, such as overdue federal student loans and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages.
Now that a government agency can officially contact consumers by phone, it opens up a lot of new opportunities for scammers.
Buried in the Congressional budget bill was a provision allowing debt collectors to use robocall technology to pursue anyone owing government debt—think overdue student loans and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae mortgages.
“We expect to see a spike in scammers targeting overdue student loans, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae mortgage debt—things other than just taxes,” Dewey told Consumer Reports.
How to avoid it
Even if the name and number on the caller ID appear to be legit, don't trust it!
“If someone calls to collect money, tell the caller you want to conduct the transaction in person and that you will come to his office,” says Dewey. “That almost always shuts down a scammer. If he's legitimate, he’ll give you an address.”
2. A new kind of political scam
It's an election year, so you can expect the political spam calls to start coming in. But according to Dewey, consumers should be on the lookout for a new type of political scam.How it works
Scammers use the method of phone spoofing that's used in the IRS phone scam in order to get a candidate's phone number to show up on the caller ID -- that way it looks like a legit call from a political campaign. When you answer, you're invited to join a virtual "town hall" meeting with the candidate, and to make it sound even more convincing, the scammers may piece together audio from the actual candidate or use a voice impersonator.Then comes the call to action: press #1 to make a donation (or something along those lines). At that point, you're asked to enter your credit card number -- and while it all sounds legit, you've just handed over your financial information to some unknown source.
How to avoid it
Whether it's someone claiming to be from a political campaign or anyone else, never give out your financial or other personal information over the phone. If it's an unsolicited political call, there's no way to verify who is actually on the other end. And that goes for any other caller asking for a donation or claiming you owe money.
Read more: 9 places to never use a debit card
3. Data breaches
It's difficult these days to go even a week without hearing about a new data breach. And experts say it's not just credit cards the hackers are after anymore.More 'sophisticated' breaches
Hackers are now trying to steal any personal information that can be used in more complex forms of identity theft. These are more sophisticated attacks that can be carried out over time and potentially go unnoticed for longer periods of time -- by stealing information, piece by piece, that isn't directly linked to a financial account.
“The [hacked] information is not directly financially related, but becomes a stepping stone to a financial motivator,” says Dewey.
How to avoid it
Any website that stores your personal information is another opportunity for hackers and thieves. According to Dewey, "sharing economy" sites and services like Uber and AirBnB are becoming more popular targets for scammers.Here are a few ways to protect yourself from data breaches:
- Never give out your Social Security number at these places.
- Limit the personal/financial information (including your Social Security number) that you give to your doctor's office and other medical providers. Here's more on why.
- Check your financial statements and accounts daily.
- Use this tool to check if your email account has been breached.
4. Mobile wallet hacks
According to Consumer Reports, scammers have been a little stumped by the new protections of chip-enabled credit cards -- but of course, it hasn't stopped them.Potential vulnerabilities of mobile wallets
Mobile wallets and other mobile payment sources such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, PayPal, Venmo and others, are becoming increasingly popular ways for consumers to pay for pretty much anything.The problem is that there a lot of different ways for scammers to exploit these sources.
Here's one recent example: Identity thieves used people's credit card information that they had already stolen to set up Apple Pay accounts on stolen iPhones. If verification was needed from the bank, no problem -- the scammers had already stolen all of the personal information they needed ahead of time.
Once that's done, the thieves can then use Apple Pay to empty your account or post false charges.
After doing his own investigation (don't worry, only as an example), Dewey said, “It’s amazing how easy it was to add somebody else’s credit card info to my Apple Pay account."
How to protect yourself
With new technology always comes new vulnerabilities, new loopholes and new ways for hackers to get into our personal lives.This is why Clark suggests checking your financial accounts daily, in order to catch any potential fraudulent activity as soon as possible.
http://www.clarkhoward.com/identity-theft-phone-fraud-new-scams-2016
Not to be an alarmist
Food and Medicine Will Soon Be Unobtainable
The BDI Is At a Record Low
Unfortunately, the BDI, has just dropped another 3.1% to a new record low of 402. To anyone who knows anything about economics, it is clear that the end of this financial era is quickly coming to an end.
The MSM Conspires to Keep the Truth From the People
The Main Stream Media is totally ignoring the precipitous and unprecedented drop in the BDI. However, the impending financial crisis is not going unnoticed by those who manage the shipping industry. They recognize this as the total disaster that it is. For example, total orders at the shipyards in China, have dropped off by a nearly 60% in the first 11 months of last year according to Bloomberg.
Why Is the Record Drop In the BDI a Problem?
In President Obama’s “last” State of the Union Address last night, did he fail to mention that he will not be leaving office anytime soon? Sorry Hillary. The coming catastrophe will soon allow Obama to stay on as President in order to manage the present crisis and to, of course, “save the American people”.
America is the land of the 3000 mile salad. Virtually everything we consume, wear and use is shipped thousands of miles. The BDI measures the volume of shipments on a global scale. If the volume of shipment was any lower, nothing would be shipped. Could you write the ending to this? Can you even imagine mass starvation and civil unrest of unprecedented proportions?
This Perfect Storm Could Cause You to Starve to Death
This Sunday night, on The Common Sense Show, I am interviewing prominent farmers who are going to reveal something that the federal government and MSM will not tell you. Namely, 15% of all American farmers will not be producing food for sale during 2016 because of the onerous federal restrictions placed upon our food producers. In short, they are quitting the business. To those that are still producing food, they are going to have trouble shipping the food. Why? Because the credit that is needed to borrow money for the common purpose of shipping to market is greatly diminishing. As shipping and manufacturing continue to crumble, we are going to see shortages in America that we have never seen.
When the crisis become acute, only days to months away, currencies across the planet will collapse and no product will move. This is the stuff that starvation, mass food riots and martial law are made of. We are about to see suffering in this country on an unprecedented scale
The Economy Is In Free Fall
Another precipitous incident that could collapse the economy will could consist of the the next false flag event which will likely collapse this fragile economy. If it is not a cyber attack upon the banks, any false flag event will do quite nicely (e.g. terrorist attack). When this happens, food will not be shipped to your neighborhood grocery store. The American economy will come to a complete standstill. Economic collapse is imminent.
Michael Snyder wrote an excellent analysis related to the true state of the economy. He was quite clear and convincing in his presentation that America is already in free-fall. Every economic indicator says the economy is collapsing like a house of cards except for the Stock Market. When the Stock Market crashes, that will be the final straw. Oil has crashed as it is now selling for less than $40 a barrel. Oil is projected to soon be at $26 a barrel. This is good news, right? Wrong, if shipping oil is not profitable, it will not be shipped. Subsequently, oil will soon not move. If oil is not in play, every product will sit at is place of origin. How many different ways can you spell starvation and medication shortage? Further, Snyder writes that the cash is being sucked out of the economy. Available cash on hand is at an all-time low. America is like the punch-drunk boxer that is ready to take a tumble with the slightest amount of pressure.
There Are None So Blind As Those Who Will Not See
I feel like it’s the Monday before Black Tuesday in 1929. I know that many of you have family members who think you are insane to suggest that your bank could fail. My heart breaks for many of my fellow Americans who will never know what hit them and have not prepared.Only a fool is keeping their hard earned assets in the dollar and leaving it deposited inside of a bank that the courts have ruled own your money once you deposit your paycheck!Despite several and multiple warnings coming from both this publication and dozens of others that the crash of the U.S. economy could come at any time, some people continue to go through life as if nothing is wrong.
Logic means nothing to the sheep of America, proof means nothing to these people, even scripture from Revelations means nothing. It is as if some people go from website to website and leave their message of ignorant bliss that our economy is fine and we will never have anything to worry about and anyone who says different, is a fear-monger. By the way, the term “fear monger”, just like the term, “conspiracy theorist”, was created by the mainstream media, in order to marginalize any individual who has serious concerns about the elite and their intentions regarding the direction that the planet is headed.Unfortunately, the BDI Is the Tip of the Iceberg
The United States taxpayer is on the hook to JP Morgan and Bank of America for nearly $80 trillion dollars, apiece, in order to cover their share of the derivatives debt. Raise your hand if you knew that. We must have a lot of broken arms in America this morning. Amazingly, very few have mentioned this in the three years that this “silent” bail-out has been in effect.First of all, if you are one of the millions of customers of these banks, you need to realize that the entire GDP of the planet is under $70 trillion dollars and your bank owes more money to the originators of the Credit Swap Derivatives than the entire value of the planet, per mega bank! Take your time, I will wait right here as you rub your eyes and reread the previous passage… I know that those of you who have a bad case of cognitive dissonance are sweating profusely.
The facts are so indisputable, that even mainstream publications such as Bloomberg are reporting on this reality and have been since 2011 when the Federal Reserve and the FDIC guaranteed the derivatives debt for JP Morgan and Bank of America for derivatives debt up to almost $80 trillion dollars each.
Even Robert Reich previously wrote an editorial piece expressing grave concern over the state of the derivatives debt, the U.S. mega banks and how the U.S. taxpayer is now on the hook to support the trillions of dollars of derivatives debt. The situation is so dire that Bank of America shifted its derivatives debt, previously located in its Merrill Lynch investment banking unit, to its banking depository arm, which magically was given access to the Fed discount window and is protected by the FDIC (i.e. that would be you).
Unmistakable Implications
In 2013, Bank of America had a little over one trillion dollars in deposits. The FDIC is guaranteeing the derivatives debt for this bank to the tune of almost $80 trillion dollars. And the entire GDP of the planet is less than the FDIC guarantee. This is a prescription for economic Armageddon.
Solely based upon the condition of the megabanks, it is a foregone conclusion that these bank customers are going to lose their assets. Since the U.S. only takes in $2 trillion dollars per year, where is the money going to come from to cover the derivatives debt? The interest on the derivatives debt is exploding faster than we can pay the interest on it and the interest is estimated to be $505 trillion a year. This one set of circumstances is enough, on its own, to collapse the U.S. economy. This could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. However, we have a lot of straws sitting upon the backs of the American camel.Conclusion
The crash could happen tomorrow. If the elite continue to artificially prop up Wall Street’s Stock Market, the economy will still die. When oil does not reach its final destination, neither will food and we will witness the meaning of the term “Hell on Earth”, may God help us.
In short, store food and water, buy guns, and convert your cash to gold and silver.
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