Vizio to Pay $2.2 Million for Collecting Smart TV User Data Without Consent

The complaint against the company stated that beginning in February 2014, Vizio and an affiliated company have manufactured a smart TV that captures second-by-second information about video displayed, including that from consumer cable, broadband, set-top box, DVD, over-the-air broadcasts and streaming devices.

[...] the agencies allege that: 1 Vizio sold this information to third parties, who used it for various purposes, including targeting advertising to consumers across devices, and 2 that the consumer electronics company enabled the addition of specific demographic information to that data, such as sex, age, income, marital status, household size, education level, home ownership and household value.

According to the complaint, Vizio touted its “Smart Interactivity” feature that “enables program offers and suggestions” but failed to inform consumers that the settings also enabled the collection of their viewing habits.