Swisscom has updated the conditions of use for blue TV.Image: watson
Swisscom customers recently had to upgrade to continue using their television. To do this, it is mandatory to accept Google’s conditions. A choice that raises questions.
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“Your remote control needs to be updated,” Swisscom Blue TV recently announced to its customers. A mandatory operation if the user wants to continue watching television. A name is then displayed on the screen: Google. Yes, because to go further, you must accept the conditions of use of the American giant.
Which ones?
- The use of position.
- Collecting location data and using it anonymously to “improve location accuracy and location-based services.”
- Sending diagnostic information.
- And Swisscom specifies that customer activity will “improve announcements and recommendations”.
What is displayed on users’ screens.Image: swisscom
Image: Swisscom
What does all this mean? Elements of response.
“Obscure” data collection
For Carmela Troncoso, associate professor of security and privacy protection at EPFL, “Exactly what this means and what personal data is actually collected remains unclear.” She also points out that recent research suggests that device-linked accounts contain much more information about users than is initially reported.
Quoted by the Daily Gazetteseveral customers have expressed their concern about the new update and fear for their personal data. “I understand that Google is raising concerns and that some may be unhappy because they chose a Swiss brand, based in Switzerland, and they would have liked it to stay that way,” underlines the EPFL professor.
“There may therefore be a loss of confidence”
Carmela Troncoso, associate professor of security and privacy protection at EPFL.
Changing your conditions of use and making their acceptance obligatory is, however, nothing new. A “critical fashion these days”, continues the expert, who concedes that Swisscom’s decision is “controversial”:
“Swisscom customers must accept a contract with a new provider, which was not what they initially signed up for”
Carmela Troncoso
Swisscom nevertheless ensures that the data collected is anonymous. What reassurance? “Google is known for using less than ideal anonymization”answers Carmela Troncoso, because it still makes it possible to establish the profile of users and possibly find their identity.
Customer Trust
“The trust of our customers is at the heart of our concerns,” says Alicia Richon, spokesperson for Swisscom, assuring that the telecommunications company does not send data to Google during normal TV use.
And to however confirm that the American giant can indeed collect data such as approximate location or device identifiers when the user is active in the Google ecosystem, that is to say if he uses applications like YouTube.
“However, Google cannot draw conclusions about the customer from this data and does not receive usage data or other customer data from Swisscom,” replies Alicia Richon, specifying that data such as location can be deactivated later.
As for the change in the contract, Swisscom states that there are no changes, as the television can be used without logging into Google. And to add:
“We have informed our customers well in advance of the upcoming adaptations by email and via the TV user interface”
Alicia Richon, spokesperson for Swisscom.
“The legal situation is challenging”
In general, “the legal situation is of concern”, points out the Daily Gazette. Indeed, according to the Telecommunications Act, network operators can process customer data without their consent only in exceptional cases. However, the Federal Office of Communications cannot not control how network operators transmit data and only intervenes if there is a violation of the telecommunications law.
