Vizio needs to pay $2.2 million in penalties according to the Federal Trade Commission after it was proven that the TV maker mislead customers to reveal personal information including viewing habits. The settlement also includes $1.5 million to the FTC plus a million to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.

The Vizio feature in question was its "Smart Interactivity" says Gizmodo. The interactivity feature was said to enable suggestions and program offers and further reinstates the feature by saying "That sounds great! I love offers and suggestions, as do my friends and family!" What Vizio customers don't know is that this feature apparently opts them in to something far worse.

The complaint described that as soon as the customer agrees by enabling this feature, Vizio tracks their consumer data. Vizio started spying on its customers since February 2014 on its new and old models. Apparently, "Smart Interactivity" was a front for ACR which is a technology that tracks customer viewing information every second. Vizio offered no details as to what ACR was really for.

The Charlotte Observer reported that as a part of Vizio's settlement, the FTC would like to ask all Smart TV makers to ask consent from their customers before getting and sharing their viewing information. "It should ask if that's OK with you," says Kevin McCarthy, attorney of the FTC Division of Privacy and Identity Protection.

Vizio might have spied on their customers using their smart TVs and captured more than viewing data from the TV. Data from broadband, set-top boxes, DVDs, cable and other streaming devices may also be at risk. This data could be linked to other sensitive information including the customer's age, sex, location and income and may be used to create targeted ads.

Finally, Vizio has been ordered to delete all the data that it has collected through its "Smart Interactivity" feature which was before March 2016, the time the TV maker was slammed with a complaint.

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