Do you allow your dvr to report your viewing habits?

yoda313 · Moderator Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Location: sector 001

So do you allow your dvr to keep track of your recording habits? Does it have an option to decline the submission of details? Or do you use a computer card to record and not have any direct connection with a service?

I had a tivo and I think I had declined sending the information back - can't remember though. i also disabled that goofy "recommendation" list. I mean if you flipped channels and stopped on one for ten seconds you'd get a suggestion for a show you'd never ever watch. Now its a good idea but I just never used it.

Now I have a cable dvr so I don't have those features which is fine by me. I should actually recheck my settings and see if my motorla dvr from comcast has a privacy policy or not.

How about you?
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Xylob the Destroyer · Melkor Joined: 18 Sep 2004 Location: Earth, for now

Got a no-name brand DVR from Comcast.
Has a ton of cool ports on the back, all of which are disabled.
I have no idea if it supports this type of stuff.
Haven't found anything in the menues regarding it.
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crazy14muzic · dismembered Joined: 10 Jan 2005 Location: USA Missouri

i have had dish network dvr since 2002 model 501. I dont think it reports back to them. I have no phone line hooked up to it, but I have heard people say that you can still order ppv movies without the phone line hooked up. That sounds like a two way sat dish system.

dadrab · Posted: Apr 25, 2008 07:31

My DVR is my AV computer. It's not hooked up to the internet, so, unless my PVR350 is reporting to somebody via standard cable, no one's collecting info on me.

...and that's OK.

TJK1911 · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United States

Like the OP I have a cable DVR, and I have no idea if it reports my viewing habits to the cable company - hadn't even thought about it until now. I'll have to look around and see if I can find out if it's doing something behind my back. Wouldn't be surprised if it were. The box obviously is able to send as well as receive, since it has video-on-demand and pay-per-view available.

If they were to check they'd find that we watch mostly Discovery HD and the Thursday NBC sitcoms in HD. There's little viewing in standard definition that's worth my time, except maybe Shooting USA once a week.

Captain Satellite · Posted: Apr 25, 2008 22:12

Other - I must be the only one left with a UTV DVR!

solarfox · Member Joined: 06 Aug 2002 Location: United States

I don't have a DVR, so I don't have to worry about it.

Seeker47 · Member Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Location: A State of Mind, USA

Probably not a factor, for those of us using standalone DVDRs. (Non-Tivo.) However, I have no idea if the cable box is periodically phoning home to blab about channel habits, etc. ? {Does that sound paranoid ?}
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