Disabling smart features and questionable loss of settings

Naive Acquisition of Dual-use Surveillance Technology (Part #5)

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Seeking deactivation: In the light of this controversy, one issue in the experience of this writer was determining how to disable the "smart features" in order to avoid the unknown implications of "voice recognition". Having been set up by the vendor's technician (and personalised by a helpful techy son), attention had been focused on the need to avoid turning the Smart TV off in order to avoid "loss of settings". Fumbling with two unfamiliar remotes (one for a set-top box), "turning off" frequently occurred. The issue was then how to determine whether voice recognition had indeed been activated or deactivated.

With respect to the superior model (not acquired) equipped with a camera, commentaries (including an early response from Samsung) responded to the issue of deactivation as follows:

Should the TV owner choose not to use these features, the camera and microphone can be disabled. Users can check if the camera and microphone are activated from the TV's settings menu. As an added precaution, the camera can be rotated and tucked into the bezel of the TV. Once tucked away, the camera only captures a black image. (Josh Kirschner, Samsung Responds to TV Spying Concerns, Techlicious, 2 April 2012)

Others noted that the lens of the camera could simply be "taped over". The challenge with respect to the voice-enabled version was what exactly could be done to deactivate it, effectively to "tape it over" -- or to ensure some form of "vasectomy" by "cutting its wires" (clearly a breach of contract however). When asked, the Samsung agent proved unable to demonstrate how deactivation could be achieved through the settings menu. Consideration was given by the writer to installing a "water feature" close to the TV microphone -- a form of interference long-publicised in Bond and other spy movies.

In the quest for safe intercourse over the internet, vasectomy offers one suggestive metaphor indicative of the need to ensure "safe sex", "cognitive contraception", and adequate protection against the consequences of invasive penetration by unwelcome parties. The parallel is also indicative of the future possibility that some agencies may adopt policies with a strong resemblance to those of the Catholic Church with respect to contraception. In the spirit of Nineteen Eighty-Four, it may be considered to be suspiciously unsociable and subject to sanction to deactivate voice recognition (or the video camera). The arguments of intelligence services are only too evident. Marketing of appliances, like TVs, could be priced on condition that they are permanently activated -- with no ability to deactivate them.

Concrete proof? In experimenting with the possibilities of deactivation of "voice recognition", the personal experience focused on determining whether the microphone was active or not. Most curiously this is not readily apparent -- in contrast with the icon commonly visible on a TV screen when the mute button is used to cut the sound from the speakers. A SmartHub button on the remote of the Smart TV brings up a coloured icon which immediately fades. It is completely unclear what aspects of this iconography signal that it has been turned on or off. Is it necessary to turn it on to determine whether it is off -- or vice versa? If a safety catch on a weapon were to depend on such feedback, it could of course be disastrous -- especially in the case of (dis)arming a missile launcher.

One alternative adopted was to shout at the screen (typically "Help") since that had initially brought up a menu which appeared to be associated with control of voice recognition. However, despite shouting "Help" at the screen on subsequent evenings -- with no similar reaction -- there was no sense of confirmation that voice recognition had indeed been deactivated. Whether the neighbours may have thought there was a pattern of evening domestic abuse is another matter.

Recognition versus Recording? There is a further issue regarding "voice recognition", despite the claims of Samsung with regard to the role of third parties in interpreting information recorded, and the possibility of deactivation of that "recognition". The commentators seemingly say nothing about whether "voice recording" continues even when "voice recognition" is deactivated. Technically the distinction is between processing voice data for recognizable keywords, versus simply storing the recorded sound for possible later analysis -- whenever and by whatever means.

Such questions highlight the issue as to whether "deactivation" is defined in terms of "recognition" only -- but in no way excludes transfer of microphone input, although without any real-time processing. Thus according to the meaning of "voice recognition" (as conventionally known) deactivation may be limited to real-time processing. The "deactivation" procedure (if it can be readily found) may in no way imply that recording does not continue in some way. In contrast with the volume mute control, "off" may in no way mean "off". There is no concrete proof in this respect -- despite shouting "Help".

Deactivation more generally: Such issues are clearly common to other devices. The writer had the experience of spending the night in a sophisticated Toyota rental car, in an airport parking lot, without being able to lock it from the inside -- without triggering the alarm. The smart software interpreted movement within the car, after locking, as the activity of an intruder for which an appropriately piercing warning sound was righteously generated. The car manual consulted in the middle of the night did not offer clear indication regarding the deactivation procedure.

It was necessary to leave the car door slightly ajar -- fortunately in a secure area in a mild climate. In the absence of concrete proof of success, experimenting with deactivation possibilities depended on the alarm being triggered (after a smart delay) -- clearly inappropriate in an airport parking lot with security patrols.

Forced deactivation? The EU is in a process of subjecting most energy using products on the markets of the EU countries with Ecodesign regulation. Products covered by regulations that are already in force are: standby and off-mode losses, simple set-top boxes, non directional household lamps, tertiary sector lighting products, external power supplies, electric motors, circulators, TVs, domestic refrigerators and freezers, household washing machines, household dishwashers, air conditioners and fans. With respect to "loss of settings", it may become a legal requirement that Smart TVs turn off automatically.

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