The US media industry is using connected TVs (CTVs) and streaming channels to gather data and target consumers, according to the Center for Digital Democracy. 

In a new report called How TV Watches Us that the non-profit organization released today, it alleges that connected TV devices like smart TVs, as well as streamers, are harvesting info on kids and families through a “commercial surveillance system”. 

The CDD is submitting letters to the chairs of the FTC, FCC and California Privacy Protection Agency today, calling on them to address these findings and implement CTV industry regulations. The org also sent its report to global partners because these practices are happening worldwide, says Jeff Chester, CDD executive director and co-author of How TV Watches Us. 

The report points to how companies such as Disney, Amazon, LG and Comcast/NBCUniversal use the tech powering smart TVs to gather, analyze and target consumers through advertising systems. “These companies are harvesting tremendous amounts of data,” Chester tells Kidscreen. “Companies need to monetize responsibly, and there has to be a set of rules for [targeting] kids.” 

The CDD’s ultimate goal is to have regulators investigate all of the data CTV companies are collecting, and the processes by which they’re mining it to reach kids by advertising to their parents, adds Chester, who has been working in this field for over 30 years and led the campaign to get COPPA enacted. 

According to the CDD, children are getting directly caught up in this, too. The org claims that Disney and other CTV companies are targeting kids or making it clear that advertisers can reach kids by working with them. The org has also criticized the advertising tech that Disney, NBCUniversal and Samsung TV have developed, some of which uses AI and machine-learning to target audiences and get ads in front of relevant viewers.

These sorts of developments have gone under the radar of policymakers and consumers alike, the CDD says. Americans should not have to pay in order to avoid advertising, and they should be able to opt out of seeing ads and being targeted. 

The industry—including TV manufacturers, production companies and advertisers—”push the envelope” until there’s a backlash from regulators and the public, says Chester. The CDD wants to see that pushback happen now with CTV. 

“The kids TV industry has purposely looked the other way [on CTV advertising practices]. But if you look at them, kids are on the advertising firing line,” says Chester. “It’s going to bite [the kids TV business] back.”