Bill Controlling Smart TVs' Voice Recognition Features Clears California Assembly Committee
The California State Assembly’s Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection approved by an 11-0 vote Tuesday a bill (AB-1116) that limits how spoken words and conversations captured by the voice recognition functions of smart TVs sold in the state can…
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be used. The bill would require “notice and consent from consumers” before the voice recognition feature of the TV is enabled and would require smart TVs to have “mechanisms to help consumers actively control” those voice recognition features, said a staff analysis of the bill. The bill would specifically bar smart TVs with voice recognition features from “being used to collect, record, store, analyze, or transmit spoken words for any purpose not essential to the function of the application” with the voice recognition feature that the consumer used, the analysis said. It also would require “a one-time opt-in consent with a separate notice to the consumer” before a voice recognition feature on a smart TV is enabled, it said. It also would require smart TVs with voice recognition features to have “mechanisms” that allow consumers to “affirmatively choose” to use those features, have the ability to start and stop them and understand when those features are activated “and collecting or transmitting” spoken words or conversations, it said. The committee's approval of AB-1116 follows recent scrutiny of the voice recognition features of LG and Samsung smart TVs (see 1502110028). While LG is still reviewing the language of the California bill, "it seems consistent with LG’s approach to protecting consumers’ privacy in relation to the voice command feature on our smart TVs," John Taylor, LG vice president-public affairs, emailed us Wednesday. "LG takes our customers’ privacy very seriously, and we designed our webOS TV’s voice-activation feature with that in mind," Taylor said. "This feature allows users to control their Smart TVs using voice commands. This feature works only after users opt in by agreeing to LG’s privacy policy and a separate agreement that specifically covers the collection of voice information. Even when a customer has accepted those two separate agreements, the TV will transmit voice information only after a user affirmatively activates the feature. To provide this feature, LG works with a third-party which processes voice commands solely for the purpose of allowing the voice controls to work. Under no circumstances are these voice commands used for marketing, advertising, or any purpose other than providing the voice-activation feature, which can be turned off at any time." Samsung representatives didn't comment.