SALT LAKE CITY — When Colby Poulson bought a new TV he thought he got his family a winner — a 60-inch Samsung smartTV. !The family's three young children can tune into "Sesame Street" at any time, thanks to the TV's Internet connection. Colby and his wife Erianne seamlessly stream whole catalogs of movies and music. !"We wanted to get a smartTV," Colby said. "It's got a lot of conveniences. It was just a good price and a high-quality TV.” !!!

SmartTV owners might be getting more than they bargained for!!When KSL Investigators came to visit, Colby read the television's privacy policy for the first time. The 23-page policy was simple to find — just a few clicks on the remote. !Before setting up the TV, privacy concerns were the farthest thing from Colby's mind. "It's not something I even considered. It's not something I knew necessarily." !But while reading the first — of three — privacy policies on his TV, Colby described the manufacturer as "nefarious" and "definitely underhanded." !Colby added, "You kind of feel, I can figure this out. I don't need to read the manual. It can't be that difficult, right?" !Just by turning on the television, the Poulson family agreed to its personal data being collected and sent to Samsung — and others. !"As far as I know, I never agreed to anything like that," Colby said. !He didn't have to. Samsung doesn't bother with that wall of text you've probably become accustomed to downloading with a new app or while updating your software. The tech titan has done away with these and do-not-track requests on its TVs as a considered matter of policy. !"If they are going to be tracking data, there should be terms and agreements I'm agreeing to," Colby said. "Opting in would make a lot more sense. That would make me more comfortable. !"Big brother is keeping track of what we're looking up online, what we're watching on TV." !Today's home TV's rival movie theatre screens!!For over 60 years the locally-owned TV Specialists has been selling televisions in Salt Lake City. Inside the mom-and-pop shop, excitement about video streaming and screen clarity roll off Mike Bollinger's tongue, a third-generation television salesman. !"Televisions are better than they've ever been, both in terms of picture quality and in terms of overall content," Mike said. !The home television industry's ushering in of the latest high resolution screen, 4K screen resolution also has the attention of Mike's father, Ted. !"If I want to see where the technology is going, then I look at 4K," Ted Bollinger said. "4K is a world of color capability that we can't get with a regular TV. !"We're talking about resolution and color here that most theatres don't have. You have to experience this live to see the actual color, detail and contrast." !

Even with Internet-connectivity and extra features, today's top TV's are dropping in price, fast. A 4K bigscreen Sony that retailed for $2,800 at last year's release now sells for $1,400 at TV Specialists. !Microphone in the living room, camera in the bedroom!!There are certain downsides to this latest tech. !"The better quality TVs, whether you want it or not, you're going to get a smartTV," Mike Bollinger said. !SmartTVs with built-in cameras for gesture control or embedded microphones for voice recognition could be tracking much more than your viewing habits. !Watch what you say in your living room. Samsung's smart TV could be listening. And sharing. The data these TVs can collect is staggering. They can log when, how and for how long you use the TV. They can record the apps you use, the websites you frequent. !Basically every click of a button builds your digital trail. Much of this gets sent back to the manufacturer — or another third party, like an advertiser. !Television privacy policies weren't a first just for the Poulson family. Their presence also surprised Michael Price, a privacy expert at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. !"I was shocked by the very existence of a privacy policy for a television," Price said after checking out his own Samsung SmartTV. "The warnings in there were pretty stark, saying directly 'Don't say anything sensitive in front of the television because you're being recorded.' That's a pretty tall order when you have a television in your living room or your bedroom." !KSL reached out to Samsung about their privacy policy but did not hear back. !SmartTV manufacturer LG replied, saying its voice command now only works after users affirmatively opt in to the LG privacy policy and a separate voice-information collection agreement. !"Under no circumstances are these voice commands used for marketing, advertising or any purpose other than providing the voice-activation feature, which can be turned off at any time," LG's director of corporate communications Taryn Brucia said. !Does the Fourth Amendment still protect us in the digital age?!!Sending personal information is troubling. This data can be hacked. It can be misused. It also make it easy for the government to spy on us. !

"The FBI doesn't have to bug your living room; you will do it for them," said Price. !When data goes to a third party, it loses constitutional protection. !"The police used to have to get a warrant for when we were dealing with papers, when we were dealing with physical records," Price said. "But when these records suddenly become electronic and are being kept or stored by a third party, they get treated very very differently by the law." !Before the night was over at the Poulson house, Colby went searching for his user manual. He wanted to find out exactly what data his TV was tracking. !While he didn't find the manual, he did uncover something useful: an address tucked away in the TV's settings, allowing him to opt out of Samsung's data-sharing program. !"I'll just send them an email," Colby said. "I'm sure they'll very quickly opt me out and delete any data they have gathered on me thus far — as soon as I jump through many hoops and cut through all of the red tape and bureaucracy." ! Colby added: "Well, it's more of a two-way street now. It used to be, I guess you'd say, where you sit and observe. Now it's like you're observing and being observed at the same time."