Trending Programs

[DonC]

The Telus home screen now shows a selection of trending programs.  Does this mean that Telus is now tracking our TV viewing?  If so, it seems like a privacy issue.

[polecat]

@DonC   Nothing new here. All internet things are able to track your watching and  buying habits. Just watch the adds popup when you google something and the adds the next day after you priced a new wood stove (example only).... Yes the tv shows track your watching preferences if they loose to many viewers the show gets cancelled at some point no dollars for the adds. Polecat

[polecat]

@DonC  Google tv licence in the UK. It is free after your 75 and you can be fined for not having one. The money collected is used to support and develop programs. You have to live with it. Polecat.

[FuzzyLogic]

I can't find the info but I believe that in Canada they are not allowed to get statistics from you set top boxes. if anyone has supporting information I would like to see it.

Statistics are obtained by Numeris who track all sorts of information but you must opt in. 

[DonC]

Yes. That kind of information would be interesting.

[Nighthawk]

I would suspect that trending programs may even be influenced by social media trends. If a lot of people are talking about a specific show or episode on social media, that may possibly be one data source that they may use determine the trending programs.

[xray]

The trending data doesn't necessarily have to come from the client devices. It could come from the servers. TELUS may just be counting how many times they stream a program from their servers.

I don't see any privacy issues even if they did get the data from your Optik box. They need to check your Optik subscription anyway before allowing you to view a program. This is certainly the case for on demand (not free) where they need to track billing information.