Samsung Smart TVs Putting Pop-up Ads on Video Apps?

Just a few days after Samsung admitted that smart TVs could transmit private information to a third party, more reports suggest that the same consumer electronics devices are now popping ads into video apps. The South Korean tech giant acknowledged today that there was an error causing adverts to show in video apps from Plex and Foxtel TV, without the app developer’s permission.Following allegations of privacy breach less than a week ago, the company was forced to change it’s privacy policy. The company has lately said that it’s conducting a thorough and full investigation into the cause of the ads error as a matter of priority. The issues were brought up by Smart TV owners who took to Reddit complaining that a silent video ad for Pepsi kept on showing up in Plex, an application for streaming video from a computer, among other sources.Reportedly, the ad pop-ups started just recently. A user was quoted as saying that he had watched his favorite TV shows on the Smart TV, but that shows were stopping mid-way to play a muted Pepsi ad. The same advert did not affect shows being watched from other platforms such as PCs, Play Station 3 and Tablet computers running Plex. A spokesman at Plex was quick to respond that the company had nothing to do with the pop up ads.In a similar case, Australian smart TV owners reported a similar issue on TV streaming service Foxtel. This issue came about after users updated their smart TV apps through Samsung’s SmartHub feature, which allows people to download apps. A Pepsi ad apparently showed up after about 15 minutes watching live TV. The ad appears to be a ‘pop-up’.Last year, Samsung reportedly partnered with Yahoo to create ads and other ‘interactive experiences’ that would be shown to users, but only on an opt-in basis. The Yahoo arrangement can be turned off by declining the Yahoo privacy policy in the Smart TV hub’s terms and policy area. These latest errors appear to have resulted from an update in the software the runs the SmartTV.