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. The purpose is to provide “gesture control” for the TV and enable you to log in to a personalized account using your face. On the upside, the images are saved on the TV instead of uploaded to a corporate server. On the downside, the Internet connection makes the whole TV vulnerable to hackers who have demonstrated the ability to take complete control of the machine.

More troubling is the microphone. The TV boasts a “voice recognition” feature that allows viewers to control the screen with voice commands. But the service comes with a rather ominous warning: “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.” Got that? Don’t say personal or sensitive stuff in front of the TV.

SEATTLE (AP) — A candidate who died days before Tuesday’s election is leading his race.

Democrat state Rep. Roger Freeman died last Wednesday after battling cancer, but voters in the 30th district are voting for him. Early results show Freeman is taking 53 percent of the vote in the district that covers parts of southern King County and smaller areas of northern Pierce County.

Freeman had been diagnosed with colon cancer early last year but had been optimistic he would be able to serve a second term. Freeman was elected to his first term in the Legislature in 2012.
If Freeman is elected posthumously, the King County and Pierce County councils would jointly choose a Democrat from nominees picked by Democratic Party activists to serve for one year. Voters would then elect someone next year to serve the second half of the two-year term.