Don't want your Samsung TV to collect data, then don't be a lazy jackass

I take security and privacy issues seriously, but sometimes I despair when news stories such as that regarding Samsung TVs eavesdropping on private conversation explode across the media as happened last week. The reason for my despondency has less to do with the data privacy debate and more to do with the human stupidity one. That said, let's get the technical bit out of the way first. The privacy scare story kicked off after someone, eventually, noticed that privacy policy relating to Samsung smart TVs included the line: "Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition." This triggered a veritable tsunami of panic amongst the apparently easily panicked that their inane ramblings with the dog were being recorded by 'someone' and this data could somehow then be used to their detriment. Some particularly dense blowhards even made the connection between this statement and the Edward Snowden revelations, concluding that TVs were being used by The Powers That Be in the war against terror. I can only assume they were wearing tinfoil gloves as they typed their concerns across social media channels.