Take a look at your TV, do you own a Vizio? Chances are it’s been monitoring what you watch and has been reporting it back to the company. According to the FTC, Vizio “then turned that mountain of data into cash by selling consumers’ viewing histories to advertisers and others.”
The FTC complaint goes on to say that Vizio “got personal” by giving viewers IP addresses to companies who then matched that information with a household.
Basically, Vizio knew who you were and what you liked to watch and made money from that.
Vizio wasn’t telling buyers about this, so in order to settle the case, Vizio says it will stop tracking and will disclose it’s TV viewing practice more prominently.
Vizio is also ordered to pay $1.5 million to the FTC and another penalty to the state of New Jersey, with a total settlement to $2.2 million.
