You can (mostly) opt out of the new surveillance state for now, but for how long? Part of your payment these days for almost any service is your personal information, which can be repurposed. That scenario is going to stretch until it blankets the globe.

In the short run, a market might arise which would sell appliances with many of the same functions as smart ones without the digital trail. But you’ll have to sacrifice some utility if you aren’t willing to let the TV watch you while you watch the TV. And eventually you’ll have to opt in if you want to plug in. From Michael Price at Salon:

“I just bought a new TV. The old one had a good run, but after the volume got stuck on 63, I decided it was time to replace it. I am now the owner of a new ‘smart’ TV, which promises to deliver streaming multimedia content, games, apps, social media and Internet browsing. Oh, and TV too.

The only problem is that I’m now afraid to use it. You would be too — if you read through the 46-page privacy policy.

The amount of data this thing collects is staggering. It logs where, when, how and for how long you use the TV. It sets tracking cookies and beacons designed to detect ‘when you have viewed particular content or a particular email message.’ It records ‘the apps you use, the websites you visit, and how you interact with content.’ It ignores ‘do-not-track’ requests as a considered matter of policy.

It also has a built-in camera — with facial recognition.”