“A leading privacy advocate is criticizing TiVo, a maker of
personal video recorders, for not clearly disclosing how much
information it collects about users and their television viewing
habits.“
“In an advisory scheduled to be released today, the Denver-based
Privacy Foundation details how TiVo recorders in users’ homes are
set up to automatically transmit streams of data to the company’s
Alviso headquarters each night, including extensive viewing
information. This is in contrast to statements in the owner’s
manual for the TV recorder, which asserts that “unlike the
Internet, all of your personal viewing information remains on your
PTV receiver in your home.”
“Matthew Zinn, Tivo’s chief privacy officer, said that phrase
has since been removed from the manual and that data collection
policies have also been modified. Zinn said the changes were not
made in response to the Privacy Foundation. “From day one, privacy
has been a huge initiative for TiVo,” he said.”