# is it real?



## TIVOthis (Jul 13, 2004)

I'm sure you've all heard....TIVO tracks what you watch and sells that info. Well, I'm trying to talk a friend into a TV unit, and I'm not sure if this is true or not, and it's an argument they have. 

So, is it true? If so, can it be turned off so TIVO does not get this info?

Thanks.


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## dirtypacman (Feb 3, 2004)

Tivo gives you an option to allow for data to be collected. You can opt out of this if you do not want to allow it.

From what I understand Tivo does not collect anything about you as an individual but more information on that DVR viewing habits.

Example--- News stories after the Jackson/Superbowl incident said Such and Such amount of Tivos replayed that scene.


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## TIVOthis (Jul 13, 2004)

Thank you for your prompt answer!


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## phone1 (Mar 18, 2002)

Individual viewing habits are all grouped together (aggregated). Therefore they know that thousands viewed a particular Super Bowl commercial, but they don't know what you as an individual were watching. The records they collect do not contain any information about you or your service number. This has been confirmed (in case you're into paranoia) by members of the forum.


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## allan (Oct 14, 2002)

IIRC, they track by zipcode. So, if you can convince your neighbors to get Tivo, they won't know WHO in that zipcode watches the porn channels.


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## CharlesH (Aug 29, 2002)

It is spelled out in http://www.tivo.com/5.11.3.asp

They take great pains in the way they store the information to "lose" the identity of the sending TiVo, not only by not sending the TiVo's id along with the info (in a separate session from the authentication/guide download session), but also by reorganizing the files it is contained in (to lose correlation with times your TiVo was known to call home), and aggregating the information and deleting the original info very quickly. As as a result, the personal info is simply not available, even if they were issued a court order to divulge it.


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## tomo_kun (Sep 8, 2003)

They arnt selling it to anyone, its all private.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

That's not true - the aggregate viewing data is sold - for which I say "great!"

There is a fascinating whitepaper at http://tivo.com/privacy that describes the efforts TiVo goes to in anonymizing the data.


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## ravonaf (Sep 2, 2003)

What's funny is most people would kill to be a neilson family. Yet when tivo does the same thing people freek out.


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## tomo_kun (Sep 8, 2003)

Wasnt there a rumour that TiVo and neilson where going to join? I wanna be a neilson family damn it. Soo many good shows cancled that i could help save!


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

TiVo does have a working arrangement with Nielsen. But you have to be invited to the program, you can't volunteer.

A couple of months ago my wife was invited to do the Nielsen diary - not through TiVo.


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## The TiVo Dude (Jun 9, 2004)

> _Originally posted by dirtypacman _
> *Tivo gives you an option to allow for data to be collected. You can opt out of this if you do not want to allow it. *


How do you opt in/out?

Thanks.


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## csyria (Jan 24, 2004)

You are automatically opted in, you have to call them to opt out.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

There are actually 3 levels of "opt."

"Opt neutral" is the normal one. Your information is just collected and used anonymously and in aggregate. Everyone is "opt neutral" until you do something about it.

"Opt Out" means you have contacted TiVo and have told them you do not wish to participate in the data gathering at all.

"Opt In" is where they gather more specific information, and the information is non-anonymous and non-aggregate. (I believe this is used by special projects at TiVo, such as the "Hotline to Hollywood" project, the Nielsen relationship, and such.) I don't know that you can volunteer to opt in at this point - if TiVoSvcMgr or TiVoPony reads this, they probably can offer that information.


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## csyria (Jan 24, 2004)

Hmm, I was wondering about that line in System Info after I turned on backboors.

Count me in, Hollywood needs to know that I don't watch reality shows.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

> _Originally posted by allan _
> *IIRC, they track by zipcode.*


Ah, but is it five digits (my town), or nine (my house)?


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

> _Originally posted by wmcbrine _
> *Ah, but is it five digits (my town), or nine (my house)? *


 Five digit (what you give them in guided setup).


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## heyitscory (Apr 6, 2004)

> Example--- News stories after the Jackson/Superbowl incident said Such and Such amount of Tivos replayed that scene.


So... you mean to tell me...

The people at TiVo...

KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I DID THE 8 SECOND REPEAT ON HER NIPPLE.

Oh, dear god... I have to go move to Mongolia or somewhere now.


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## heyitscory (Apr 6, 2004)

> Count me in, Hollywood needs to know that I don't watch reality shows.


Amen, cheif. Gimme a script and some actors any day.

I'd rather watch the worst Fox sitcom than The Simple Life 3: Annoying, Dumb Rich Girls in Space.


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## 1104 (Aug 8, 2000)

Hey, I'd watch paris Hilton being shot into space, so long as it was into the sun. PV


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## newfers (May 1, 2004)

I just got a call this evening...My wife and I are GOING to be a Neilson family! Woo hoo!

And rest assured, crap like American Idol and Survivor will NEVER EVER be even accidentally recorded by my Tivo 

newfers


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

newfers said:


> I just got a call this evening...My wife and I are GOING to be a Neilson family! Woo hoo!
> 
> And rest assured, crap like American Idol and Survivor will NEVER EVER be even accidentally recorded by my Tivo
> 
> newfers


so what crap do you record?


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

newfers said:


> I just got a call this evening...My wife and I are GOING to be a Neilson family! Woo hoo!


Guess you missed that part about not revealing you're a Nielson family.


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## Turtleboy (Mar 24, 2001)

davezatz said:


> Guess you missed that part about not revealing you're a Nielson family.


Yeah, but who is he?


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## newfers (May 1, 2004)

LOL the guy never told me I wasn't to reveal my Nielson-ness! He asked a few demographic questions, told me he'd send some forms for me to sign, etc etc... it's all good! And I personally don't care who knows, to be honest, and if they wanna remove me as a Nielson family, it won't matter a bit to me, but I'll be damned if I am gonna keep it a secret...how silly is that!

So I will gladly share my tivo info with the Nielson people... 

btw, isn't "Veronica Mars" up against "Lost"? Ooooh, it is! lol Go Veronica!


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## cheezus (Jan 29, 2002)

What is it with people thinking that if only they were a Neilson family, their favorite show wouldn't have been canceled? Don't they have a large enough sample size that individual preferences don't actually matter?


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## AppState (Jan 9, 2003)

Is there any way to find out how many tivo units are in a particular zip code?


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## newfers (May 1, 2004)

Oh, I know enough about statistics and sample size to know that my Tivo season pass is just a drop in the bucket, but still, if one Neilson family represents many hundreds of thousands of viewers, I can't help but feel the need to set my tivo to record the shows that maybe I'd normally watch live... in other words, I want my tivo to record the stuff I love, NOT the stuff I'm missing. It'll be fun, being a Neilson family for a year.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

"Who is this 'Nielson' of which you speak?" The TV rating company is Nielsen.


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

Correcting misspellings on this forum (or any for that matter) could be a full time job...


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

heyitscory said:


> So... you mean to tell me...
> 
> The people at TiVo...
> 
> ...


Not you in particular.


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