Automatic content recognition (ACR) tools embedded within TVs and similar hardware listen or watch for viewing behavior, reporting it to service operators.<\/p>\n

Until recently, some of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have also been licensing that data out. But, as privacy rules loom, that may be set to change.<\/p>\n

“The privacy landscape is shifting very rapidly now,” Navin observes. “It started in Europe, but it’s spreading across the world – basically the regulatory bodies are starting to understand that their consumers care about privacy.<\/p>\n

“Consumers are uncomfortable with how far the programmatic advertising world has gone and how the data universe has gone, creating this massive amount of data out there that we don’t, as consumers, really understand or feel comfortable with. So I think it’s safe to say that we’re going to see a lot more privacy regulation in the future.”<\/p>\n

Responding to privacy<\/h2>\n

For Samba.TV, that risk validates its approach of operating its own ACR software embedded on others’ devices.<\/p>\n

“It definitely is a sort of a reinforcing mechanism for the investments that we’ve made around building an app on the television, giving consumers complete control over their data footprint, what TVs can generate in terms of data and insight on viewership and, you know, maintaining a first party relationship with the consumer and their data,” Navin adds.<\/p>\n

“We’ve never done anything less than opt-in. We’ve always been first-party with that consumer relationship so they can manage it in one place. What’s happening is that the industry that wanted to compete with us and compete with those that have first-party data with other people’s data are now basically having to surrender that data because they don’t have the first party relationship with the consumers and they don’t have, you know, a long-term relationship with the data controller.”<\/p>\n