On Privacy, Election Hacking, and related matters...

We've never felt more vulnerable to institutional surveillance (both corporate and government-led) than we do today. Not likely to agree on anything, it's front page news that Republicans and Democrats now agree that Russia intervened in our past election. That frightens me and millions of other people. Our natural response is to protect ourselves both through the products we use, but also through alignment with companies and institutions that care about our privacy. As an entrepreneur and developer of technology in use by millions of people, I feel an acute obligation to provide consumers transparency and control over their data. Our principles need to be clear on this issue, now more than ever.

Imagine this headline: “Your Smartphone Knows Your Location At All Times.”

The natural response today would be: “I’d certainly hope so, I wouldn’t want a phone that doesn’t!” But when smartphones hit the market in 2005, there was a steep learning curve for both consumers and technology companies to make phones valuable. The value of a smartphone today lies in its ability to enable highly personalized services like driving directions and restaurant recommendations.

That was then; this is now, the era of Smart TVs, Smart Homes, Smart Everything.

In 2010, television manufacturers determined that a truly “smart” TV should understand viewing preferences to make television more personalized. Being at the forefront of innovation in Smart TV technology, Samba has been a defining force within the industry, and one thing remains unchanged since we opened for business in 2008: we are a consumer-facing platform, first and foremost. Televisions have been in our living rooms for over 50 years, so we knew that the learning curve would be slow, so we set out to serve as both disruptive pioneers but also advocates for the consumer, including protecting their privacy and providing them value.

Looking at the potential for connectivity in the living room, we see great challenges and exciting opportunities. The learning curve has only just begun.

Rather than play catch-up with the evolving Smart TV industry, Samba TV has been a proactive player in the space. In addition to our evangelism within our market — among Smart TV manufacturers, media buyers and sellers — our work also reaches policymakers and regulators we met at CES where we’ve launched products since 2012. Since then, various members of the FTC, FCC and US Congress have seen our products, engaged with us and participated in public workshops with us.

Additionally we engaged Julie Brill, one of the world’s foremost experts on privacy, as our own attorney after she left the Commission to analyze and further improve our privacy approach. Her take on our privacy and data practices:

“SAMBA TV IS TAKING RESPONSIBLE STEPS TO PROMOTE CONSUMER PRIVACY IN ITS INTEGRATED TV SERVICES AND THROUGHOUT THE ORGANIZATION.” – JULIE BRILL

In 2016, former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler took the CES stage with Consumer Technology Association CEO Gary Shapiro to discuss privacy and other topics, and voiced his appreciation for Samba’s opt-in privacy policy, which was uniquely transparent compared to the rest of the industry.

Our privacy approach has been shaped by engaging with thoughtful attorneys, congressional staff and regulators who share our values and our belief that in order for a consumer-facing technology to be adopted, it must first be trusted.

We are not interested in being satisfactory or average with respect to privacy. We strive to be one of the most privacy-centric voices in our ecosystem and we have a long track record for doing so. Samba TV has made, and will continue to make, innovations and improvements to our products based upon the guidance we received from customers and policymakers alike, and we will use them to keep leading our industry.

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