Your game may be tracking your TV habits

AT first glance, gaming apps with names like "Pool 3D", "Beer Pong: Trickshot" and "Real Bowling Strike 10 Pin" seem innocuous. There's even one called "Honey Quest", featuring Jumbo, an animated bear.

But these apps, once downloaded onto a smartphone, have the ability to keep tabs on the viewing habits of their users - some of whom may be children - even when the games are not being played.

This is yet another example of how companies, using devices that many people feel they cannot do without, are documenting how audiences in a rapidly changing entertainment landscape are viewing television and commercials.