Your Vizio smart TV might tell you if it spied on you
Vizion is reportedly planning to send customers class action notices through its smart TVs.
Vizio smart TVs might display a strange notification in the near future -- one telling you if the company collected and sold your data. Back in 2015, a ProPublica exposé revealed that Vizio installed software on its smart TVs that allowed it to track and sell your viewing habits to advertisers without explicit consent. That unsurprisingly spawned class action lawsuits, and a judge ruled back in 2017 that the company has to pay $2.2 million to settle with the government.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Vizio was supposed to reveal the details of the settlement on September 12th, but court documents have revealed that it asked for an extension. Why? To make sure that the brand's smart TVs can display class action notices in a way that satisfies legal standards.
The publication quoted a part of the court papers that said:
"The Parties are developing a class notice program with direct notification to the class through VIZIO Smart TV displays, which requires testing to make sure any TV notice can be properly displayed and functions as intended. The additional time requested will allow the parties to confirm that the notice program proposed in the motion for preliminary approval is workable and satisfies applicable legal standards."
If you haven't heard of the scandal and the cases that followed before this, you might find out if you were affected if a notification about the settlement pops up on your TV instead of in your mailbox. That could happen on or before October 3rd, depending on when Vizio wraps up its tests.
