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Big Brother SKY watching you?
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Can SKY tell which programmes you, watch, record or play from Anytime?
Either per customer or anonymous infomation?
Either per customer or anonymous infomation?
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www.barb.co.uk
No, there's no point in it - and no method of doing it unless you have the phone lead plugged in.
A few paranoiacs have been claiming this is done ever since Sky Digital started, but no one has ever been able to find it was so - and it's been 11+ years now.
Actually, I'm pretty sure they do.
The contract for both Sky+ and Sky+ HD allows them to monitor how you use the box/service (including live TV, Sky+ and Anytime).
Regular boxes do not have the same clause in the contract, but Sky does run a Viewer Panel where they monitor how you use the box in exchange for a gift voucher.
Either way, the data would be kept anonymously.
You mean you're 'guessing' they do
Like I said, in 11+ years no one has ever been able to find any evidence that it happens - and like I said, it would be pointless anyway, as it useless for viewing figures.
No.
But that red dot on the box is actually a tiny webcam.
Don't say you haven't been warned!
That's how broadcasters officially monitor viewing figures though.
The revolving 'Blue light' is actually a hypnotic device, that allows SKY to make you upgrade
Basically, it will track your recordings and box usage and likely viewing figures too, although it isn't specific about what it does.
The very fact that this is offered to people suggests that they don't do it to everyone, which would probably be a breach of several data and privacy protection laws.
I know all this as I received the vouchers a couple of years ago to go on the panel.
Basically they can view certain channel usages and I think they could if necessary see every channel you have watched in a certain time.
For instance, you have ESPN at £9 per month and you call to have it removed. For some reason it is not removed correctly and you have to call back up to ask after 2 months why you still have it on your bill.
i.e, spent £18 on something you didn't know you had, it can happen, it is a mistake.
Now I know head office can check if you have or have not watched that channel in the last 2 months, if you have not it tends to mean a refund. I don't know how they do it. I just know they can. But I believe it can only be done if requested so not an invasion of privacy issue really.
However, even before we joined on invite when we took HD from the start, I had my suspicions.
Over a year or two some time ago we got some very nice pressies from the Hallmark channel. A card and an Easter Egg I recall. These were for supporting the channel.
How would they be able to send these to us if they had not been given info by Sky that we were watching a lot of Hallmark shows?
This does not bother me. I am happy with viewing habits being observed and that greater accuracy is possible with viewing figures.
And these gestures by Hallmark were extremely well received in this household. We became a fan of the channel for life....although I have not refrained from commenting when they did things wrong (eg the pretty awful scheduling of the new Law and Order premiere series late last year).
Contrasting Hallmark's appreciation of us as a viewer with Sky's concept of loyalty (higher charges to fund free boxes to newbies and the darned cheek to send us a free tin badge in return for us inviting a friend to get Sky for far less than we were getting it!) - well it says a lot about who has class.
That is because it is fairly obvious - the billing systems *have* to record who/what you call and how long. How else would they charge you?
I don't pay per minute or per viewing to watch via Sky, so the only things they'd need to know that I watch would be premium channels or box office events.
It is is the article I saw it quoted BARB as the source of the breakdown.
I think it was in a sky mag. Sky have the technology and use it everyday
Yes Sky does monitor 20,000 Sky subscribers and uses the information as part of its audience measurement. It also uses the same data to calculated the EPG charges to free to air channels.
The information is collected anonymously. It was reported many years ago that its Sky Viewing Panel would be used to help Sky recognise paterns and general market research.
Nigel Goodwin posts endlessly about Sky and yet he is wrong again. No viewing panel according to him. 20,000 viewers are on the offical panel. Now Sky also collects data when the Sky boxes dial home with details of PPV/Box Office purchases.
Only the data collected via BARB, data collected by Sky would be useless - would YOU trust it?.
Why would it be useless?
It's unlikely that Sky would see any benefit in reporting false data.
The only time it would be to their advantage would be in regard to their own channels - if they wanted to lie to themselves about something, they could just do that anyway!
If anything, the data from Sky boxes would be MUCH more useful as it gives a very accurate picture of actual TV viewing, factoring in Sky+ and Anytime usage.