Overheard a hotel clerk talking about guest streaming habits and it made me paranoid

I was waiting for my wife at a hotel lobby in Des Moines last weekend and overheard the front desk guy telling his coworker about how they can see what guests are watching on the room TVs. Not like Netflix accounts, but just the channel numbers and how long they watched. He said a lot of people leave the TV on for 12 hours straight and never actually watch anything, just use it for background noise. That got me thinking about how much data these places collect without you knowing. Reminds me of that Black Mirror episode where the hotel staff rated guests based on their room behavior. Makes me wonder if I should start using my laptop for streaming instead of the hotel TV.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_linda7h ago

That's genuinely unsettling, I'd feel the same way after hearing that conversation.

fiona_west216h ago

Used to brush stuff like this off as people being paranoid but nah, that's creepy. Definitely changed my mind on what's normal boundary crossing.

jana_shah6h agoMost Upvoted

Right? "Genuinely unsettling" is putting it mildly. I'd be half tempted to turn around and ask if they want my autograph or something. Like, "Oh, you've been following my work? Cool, I do a great impression of a confused tenant." Honestly after that, I'd probably start checking my rearview mirror more often just to make sure nobody's taking notes on my life choices from the car next to me. We're all just one weird overheard chat away from being a main character in a true crime podcast episode.