Why Don't They Put Mics to Tvs So They Can Listen for Hours?
Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago
Techstory
skepticalnegative
Debate
20/100
Smart TvsPrivacyAdvertising
Key topics
Smart Tvs
Privacy
Advertising
who is building this? people already buy alexa so? all for ad data. they already serve ads on TV. yes bad for privacy but not the topic.
The discussion revolves around the idea of TVs being equipped with microphones to listen for hours, with concerns raised about privacy and the potential use of such data for advertising purposes.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
40m
Peak period
1
0-1h
Avg / period
1
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Sep 27, 2025 at 5:51 AM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Sep 27, 2025 at 6:31 AM EDT
40m after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
1 comments in 0-1h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Sep 27, 2025 at 7:08 AM EDT
3 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45394450Type: storyLast synced: 11/17/2025, 12:03:04 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
This is one of the ways they can target ads, and why smart TVs are the only TVs now and didn’t demand much of a premium during the transition.
It’s also why I won’t connect my TV to my network.
every single smart tv have had microphones in the remote (because mics on the tv would be useless, see how much Amazon and google had to spend on their home-bugs) since day one. 30yrs now?