The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released a summary of issues raised at a virtual discussion on consumer issues relating to the Digital Platform Services Inquiry.
The purpose of the meeting was to facilitate a discussion on consumer issues and benefits relating to the expanding ecosystems of digital platform service providers in Australia. The discussion was chaired by ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe and facilitated by digital platforms branch GM Kate Reader. Participants included consumer representative groups and researchers.
The privacy and data collection practices of smart home devices - including Smart TVs and smart speakers - was raised as an area of concern by participants.
One participant said Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) can track all consumer usage of a smart TV, including consumption of broadcast TV, streaming applications including Netflix and ABC iView, and gaming activity. This data is then sent to advertisers to build individual profiles.
Some TVs require consumers to make an account with the manufacturer while setting up the device to aid data gathering. This data can be sent to the manufacturer and/or Operating System (OS) provider and it is not always clear to the user which data is being sent and to whom.
Another participant said Smart TVs nudge users to use smartphones, over remote controls, for a more efficient setup process. This also benefits manufacturers by providing more identifying information which may be used for tracking purposes, and enables manufacturers to ask users a broader range of demographic questions during setup than is feasible on a TV.
Other issues mentioned by participants included advertising being presented in the TV interface to consumers in non-obvious ways, with some smart TV platforms labelling certain ads but this "not being the norm".
A participant also raised concerns about prominence issues, where manufacturers enter into deals with streaming services and broadcasters for pre-installation or dedicated remote control buttons. The participant said that this raised competition concerns which may impact local businesses who may not be able to compete against global streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which can make scaled arrangements on devices manufactured for many markets.
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