A spate of streaming services are on their way from major tech and entertainment companies, promising viewers a trove of binge-worthy new shows and movies. Recent deals involving the media conglomerate AT&T, the streaming device seller Roku, the advertising giant Publicis and other companies have expanded the surveillance infrastructure that operates in the background of streaming services. It is a “digital daisy chain of data-gathering on viewers,” according to Jeff Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. Others willingly opt in to, say, have a record of their recent cooking show binge, watched through Amazon Fire TV, transmitted to an advertiser that can then deliver a recipe book ad to their laptop or tablet. But recent research suggests that even when viewers try to shield their information, it is sometimes tracked without their permission and shared with corporate giants like Facebook, Google and Netflix.

Source: New York Times October 25, 2019 19:21 UTC