It was mentioned in another post that Tablo units report information about the units back to HQ. The post was referring to a feature request about having health status updates sent to the user.
I have 3 questions:
1.) While I like the idea of granular technical information (Hint Hint - A health status Dashboard), please itemize in list form what the Tablo units report back to HQ?
2.) Is @TabloTV monetizing any of this information? Monetizing viewing habits is a lucrative business as well as data mining your user base.
3.) How does one opt-out today, or in the future?
All non-OTA TV providers monetize or sell the viewer information. All web sites do the same. Go to CBS, NBC, ABC -every move you make, every click you make, it’s recorded and sold. Facebook tracks every click and every word you type. Google, Yahoo, every letter of every word in every email you send through their “free email services” is recorded, read (by bots) and the information either sold or used.
As the song goes - every move you make, every breath you take…
@ShadowsPapa actually I would prefer Tablo tells the powers to be what shows we watch if anything for ratings 
Too many shows I like are getting canceled 
All non-OTA TV providers monetize or sell the viewer information. All web sites do the same. Go to CBS, NBC, ABC -every move you make, every click you make, it's recorded and sold. Facebook tracks every click and every word you type. Google, Yahoo, every letter of every word in every email you send through their "free email services" is recorded, read (by bots) and the information either sold or used.As the song goes - every move you make, every breath you take...........
I get that, and expect it for “free” services. But Tablo is a paid service, and if there is monitoring it should be disclosed. I’m aware that is not the standard modus operandi for most companies, but it SHOULD be. I’m the last one who wants the US to turn European, but their privacy law are something I would like to see the US move closer to.
See Data Protection Directive .
@bigcitymike pretty sure it has been asked before and Tablo has said they do not report data to anyone. Ask @TabloTV
Best to just read their Privacy Policy and make up your own mind if you want to use Tablo’s services. IMO their policy is actually pretty good from a privacy standpoint. Have you actually read the privacy policy for a lot of websites? Most websites say that by just visiting their site you agree that they can collect anything they want and do anything they want with the information.
Best to just read their Privacy Policy and make up your own mind if you want to use Tablo's services. IMO their policy is actually pretty good from a privacy standpoint. Have you actually read the privacy policy for a lot of websites? Most websites say that by just visiting their site you agree that they can collect anything they want and do anything they want with the information.https://www.tablotv.com/privacy/
@roraniel - That link is just for using their website. It says nothing (from what I can tell) about the Tablo device and what information is reporting back to HQ.
@Jestep - I tagged them in my original post.
I’m not really stressing about it, just curious as to what is going on behind the scenes at HQ with our data. It was one of their employees that stated data was being sent back, which is what piqued my interest.
Just because I typed what I did doesn’t mean I like it one little bit… I actually hate it. I do like what Jestep said - Tablo can report what watch to the networks in the form of numbers viewing
Anyone watching via a PC or phone is going through the Tablo server just to contact your own Tablo on your own home network. my.tablotv.com isn’t your local network if you catch my drift.
And if the web/Internet is down for you, good luck connecting to the tablo on your own network sitting right next to your phone or computer (at least for the web app)
I was told by Tablo that it’s due to the DHTML 5 code having to be run that way - there’s no web server in Tablo.
Then someone else said it was a FLASH interface, which is not the same as what Tablo said and I sincerely hope Tablo isn’t REALLY going to use flash into the future.
Then someone else said it was a FLASH interface, which is not the same as what Tablo said and I sincerely hope Tablo isn’t REALLY going to use flash into the future.
Flash sucks. Flash needs to go away and the faster/sooner the better. I wish flash would simply die and I’d wake up and go to work tomorrow and find WOW, no more FLASH garbage! Flash is dead, Flash is a horsepower sucker, it’s a nasty nasty app. Flash has extreme overhead for what it does. Flash is UNSECURE. Flash stinks. Die, Flash, die, please!!! Flash slows everything down.
Actually if I had my wish, Flash and JAVA would disappear over-night.
Just because I typed what I did doesn't mean I like it one little bit....... I actually hate it. I do like what Jestep said - Tablo can report what watch to the networks in the form of numbers viewingAnyone watching via a PC or phone is going through the Tablo server just to contact your own Tablo on your own home network. my.tablotv.com isn't your local network if you catch my drift.And if the web/Internet is down for you, good luck connecting to the tablo on your own network sitting right next to your phone or computer (at least for the web app)I was told by Tablo that it's due to the DHTML 5 code having to be run that way - there's no web server in Tablo.
Then someone else said it was a FLASH interface, which is not the same as what Tablo said and I sincerely hope Tablo isn't REALLY going to use flash into the future.Flash sucks. Flash needs to go away and the faster/sooner the better. I wish flash would simply die and I'd wake up and go to work tomorrow and find WOW, no more FLASH garbage! Flash is dead, Flash is a horsepower sucker, it's a nasty nasty app. Flash has extreme overhead for what it does. Flash is UNSECURE. Flash stinks. Die, Flash, die, please!!! Flash slows everything down.Actually if I had my wish, Flash and JAVA would disappear over-night.
I would love to know complete breakdown of the ins and outs of how this device works. I found someone that has done a massive job of tracking what Tablo is doing. Not sure the reason why this person did what they did, but it’s a heck of a dive into how Tablo works. Just guessing, I presume reverse engineering kind of stuff.
Tablo does has a web server running on/in it,it’s called lighttpd.. Just go to http://Local_IP_of_Tablo:18080/pvr/
Because Tablo traffic isn’t encrypted, this person did a bunch of packet sniffing (I imagine), and they’ve documented (among a bunch of other things) that the Tablo is listening on UDP port 8881, and will only respond when a specific set of ASCII characters is presented to the Tablo.
Ah, time to fire up wireshark or Microsoft net monitor or its replacement. It’s what I do at work and fascinating. I could set up my switch and monitor all traffic to and from the Tablo and see just what’s happening.
Tablo said that traffic going through their server was necessary because the devices that run the web app are using DHTML5 and that Tablo wasn’t able to run that, so it had to go through a server where the NATIVE app didn’t use that so could run direct device to device. That sort of contradicts what was said, however, why track Tablo when running via a PC or phone but not a tablet?
I get that, and expect it for "free" services. But Tablo is a paid service, and if there is monitoring it should be disclosed. I'm aware that is not the standard modus operandi for most companies, but it SHOULD be. I'm the last one who wants the US to turn European, but their privacy law are something I would like to see the US move closer to.
See Data Protection Directive .
Yeah, I know about European rules - the web server I have hosting the car forum I run is in the UK. Talk about nice strict rules and their anti-spam rules leave the states looking like idiots (uh, if the shoe fits)
And I work with a German company for our VPN at work - security is job 1 for them. Don’t talk to them about SSL if you also want to talk secure.
I wish the U.S. would adopt some more realistic rules as well and stop protecting spammers based on free speech (and campaign donations). I know some countries dislike our laws as it results in them getting more SPAM. This country is among the worst, not Nigeria, not Russia, not (insert country name here) for allowing spam, phishing and worse to flourish. In some places what’s allowed here would land you in jail.
I have to suspect our friends in Canada are doing a decent job, better than if it were being done on the south side of the boarder. Their privacy policy bears that out. It’s just plain “nice and friendly”.
I have to suspect our friends in Canada are doing a decent job, better than if it were being done on the south side of the boarder. Their privacy policy bears that out. It’s just plain “nice and friendly”.
@bigcitymike -
I responded to your comment in the other thread so I’ll repeat myself here for everyone…
Don’t get too creeped out… Nobody sits in a room and says, “oooh Mike recorded Dr. Phil!” The logs are mostly there to help solve support tickets and aren’t even looked at until you have a problem.
We do collect stats that are aggregated from the bunch of Tablos so we can see for example how many have checked in over the last 24 hours.
If we were ever to use the stats for some sort of external purpose (like making a ‘top 5 list of shows that Tablo users have recorded’), we would never use data on an individual basis.
And no, we don’t sell/provide your data to any third-parties.
ATabloTV So does this privavcy policy apply to the use of a Tablo and the subscription service?
@roraniel - There is a specific policy for the subscription that’s available at the bottom of the support page: https://www.tablotv.com/support/
The specific link is here:
It does point back to the privacy policy you referenced so basically yes, we would not release your personal data to any 3rd party. If we were to do that (as part of some additional service which we don’t do or have at this point) it would be covered under a confidentiality agreement with that third party.
What would that kind of thing entail…? For example, if we implemented some sort of commercial skip capability we may have to send a 3rd party data on what shows you’ve recorded so we know what commercial segments to axe.
Hope that helps!
Thanks. That should clarify it for everyone!
No problemo!
I’d not mind if like someone else mentioned you sent aggregate information about “all Tablo users happen to watch this show” so that our shows might survive, that’s fine!
For most of us, especially since it wouldn’t be name-by-name, person-by-person, but rather “of our 150,000 Tablo owners, 70% watch NCIS” that’s just fine with me. (sorry if I underestimated the number of Tablo owners, too)
@bigcitymike -
I responded to your comment in the other thread so I’ll repeat myself here for everyone…Don’t get too creeped out… Nobody sits in a room and says, “oooh Mike recorded Dr. Phil!” The logs are mostly there to help solve support tickets and aren’t even looked at until you have a problem.We do collect stats that are aggregated from the bunch of Tablos so we can see for example how many have checked in over the last 24 hours.If we were ever to use the stats for some sort of external purpose (like making a ‘top 5 list of shows that Tablo users have recorded’), we would never use data on an individual basis.And no, we don’t sell/provide your data to any third-parties.
I promise my tinfoil wasn’t on (too tightly).
Thanks for the update @TabloTV. I was mostly looking for confirmation that tracking/logging was being performed without my consent, or if you prefer, w/o an option for me to opt out (I would like the option to opt out though).
I’m highly protective of my viewing habits.It would ruin my elaborate social network of friends if the insane amount of time I watch QVC got out. I mean In the Kitchen with David, who doesn’t love that man…er show?
I thought it was in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone’s in the kitchen I know
Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah
Strumming on the old banjo</div>