Comment on The BBC’s proposal to switch off Freeview is a threat to its universal service | Letter

• mjr@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  What are you talking about? Whose argument should be that? The BBC’s? Why would they say that broadcast is worth user privacy, when they aren’t violating anyone’s privacy?

  They might not be violating it, in the sense that they operate within the law, but they do invade your privacy if you use iPlayer by collecting “your name and contact details, your date of birth or financial details […] your email address and age. Device information […] Location information […] Information on your activities outside the BBC […] the articles you read and the programmes you watch.” They use it, among other things “to check if you’re using BBC iPlayer and to keep the licensing database accurate […] to personalise services and give you things more tailored to your tastes […] to show you relevant advertising on another company’s site […] to help us understand what kind of services you might use And sometimes how you might share things with other people g. to recommend things we think might interest you […] to show you advertising when you access a BBC service from outside the UK”. They share it with other companies “When we use other companies to power our services […] When you use another company’s service that connects to us […] When we do collaborative research” (all quotes from the BBC Privacy and Cookies Policy).

  I don’t think most viewers realise the broad consent that the BBC demands before it will let you watch iPlayer. Just the privacy section of their terms is 20 screenfuls on my laptop: it’ll be more than that on a smart TV, so it’s obviously going to be “too long: didn’t read” for most people. It’s not an informed choice. Once upon a time, the BBC would have been educating the public about these privacy drawbacks with streaming, not only marketing its own streaming services.

  The BBC would say that some broadcast costs are worth more viewer privacy if they cared about public benefit.

  It’s even cheaper for the BBC to close what? iPlayer?

  No, close the BBC. If the BBC want to say that cost is the main problem with broadcasting, then the next step is to say we close BBC TV entirely (or maybe except for one or two news channels) and save even more. Saying it’s cheaper to close things that deliver public benefit is an absurd argument for them to use.

  But the proportion of video content being watched by streaming is increasing; cutting it makes no sense at all. Maybe you meant something else, in which case you should be more precise.

  The proportion of video content being watched by streaming is increasing because even the BBC is advertising and marketing streaming over all else. There are numerous adverts/trailers for its programmes shown on its broadcast services which don’t give a time or date of broadcast, but simply say “watch on BBC iPlayer” at the end. Unsurprisingly, if you have something the size of the BBC saying repeatedly to do something, the number of people doing it will increase.

  Broadcasts still have value and should be the core of the BBC. It’s not the BSC, after all.

  source

  • FishFace@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    If the BBC want to say that cost is the main problem with broadcasting, then the next step is to say we close BBC TV entirely (or maybe except for one or two news channels) and save even more. Saying it’s cheaper to close things that deliver public benefit is an absurd argument for them to use.

    Why would the BBC, which believes in the benefit of its output, suggest closing itself? On the other hand, the BBC is an organisation with a finite budget and has a responsibility to spend that budget wisely. It’s clear why it might suggest targeting that budget in different ways.

    Giving me a million pounds would deliver “public benefit” (I am a member of the public), but is clearly a waste of resources.

    The proportion of video content being watched by streaming is increasing because even the BBC is advertising and marketing streaming over all else. There are numerous adverts/trailers for its programmes shown on its broadcast services which don’t give a time or date of broadcast, but simply say “watch on BBC iPlayer” at the end.

    Right, I’m sure the BBC advertising iPlayer is why YouTube is now the second-most-watched “broadcaster” in the UK.

    This change in habits has been gradual but inexorable. The reason for it is obvious: because streaming at any convenient time is more convenient than being locked into a broadcaster’s schedule.

    Your privacy objection is bogus. Here is the relevant section of the privacy policy.

    source

    • mjr@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Why would the BBC, which believes in the benefit of its output, suggest closing itself?

      It won’t, but if the primary aim of change is to save money, then it’s the logical conclusion of that argument. This is proof by absurdity that the argument is flawed.

      Right, I’m sure the BBC advertising iPlayer is why YouTube is now the second-most-watched “broadcaster” in the UK.

      It’s not the whole reason, but it is part of it. The public have been told repeatedly by Auntie that being tracked and studied is fine.

      This change in habits has been gradual but inexorable. The reason for it is obvious: because streaming at any convenient time is more convenient than being locked into a broadcaster’s schedule.

      But we’re not locked into a broadcaster’s schedule! We have recording devices that now perfectly display any broadcast programme at a later time of our choosing. Maybe you didn’t realise that and I can’t blame you: the BBC haven’t been advertising it regularly for the last 15+ years.

      The biggest benefit of streaming is that you can watch things that haven’t been broadcast or that your device didn’t store, but the cost of that is your privacy.

      Your privacy objection is bogus. Here is the relevant section of the privacy policy.

      That’s not the privacy policy, but it does link to it. It’s a misleading partial summary of some of it. If you click through to the full policy, you’ll find the stuff I quoted.

      source

      • FishFace@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        The full privacy policy doesn’t contradict the summary of how they share data with other organisations.

        if the primary aim of change is to save money, then it’s the logical conclusion of that argument

        No, that’s the absurd extension. Their argument is not “money must be saved at all costs”. That should be obvious.

        But we’re not locked into a broadcaster’s schedule! We have recording devices that now perfectly display any broadcast programme at a later time of our choosing.

        If you have one. And remember to set it. And don’t want to record more things than the number of tuners you have. Etc. you can’t say that this experience is remotely similar to the freedom offered by streaming.

        source