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Roku is cryptolocking TV’s until you give personal data

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Re: Roku is cryptolocking TV’s until you give personal data

#21

Post by fluxsauce »

excalibur wrote: post #18

Does anybody here know a good alternative? A device you can connect to a dumb TV to play streaming content that doesn't spy on you? All of the commercially available options seem to be selecting a giant corporation to send all your data to. As a "small" company that does this and nothing else, you would think Roku would be a relatively privacy-focused option, but it appears to be the opposite. I feel like we're being…

I use an NVIDIA Shield TV and a Pi-Hole, which gives me the advantage / flexibility of the Android ecosystem and the ability to stop some tracking. All subscription streaming providers phone home while you're watching.

Re: Roku is cryptolocking TV’s until you give personal data

#22

Post by lawnchair_larry »

big_chungus wrote: post #16
jandrese wrote: post #4

> Disclaimer: by ‘’Lock’’ I mean soft-lock. They do technically allow you to continue without doing do on the payment, but the options are hidden and only available if you look for them. Dark-net patterns are absolutely at work here, and unless you factory reset your TV it’s a freaking brick for the majority of people. Your TV is what I will call ‘’BlueBricked’’ "Cryptolocking" is something I generally associate with…

What is a "Dark-net pattern"? And cryptolocking implies it somehow bricks your TV with some sort of cryptographic security.

The term is dark pattern. Dark-net is something different, author doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

Re: Roku is cryptolocking TV’s until you give personal data

#23

Post by nkrisc »

e1ven wrote: post #7
nkrisc wrote: post #2

Is this a TV with some kind of Roku software built in? I thought Roku was a physical device that you could just unplug. This is why I will only buy "dumb" TVs that can only display input from external sources.

I agree that buying "dumb" TVs is preferable, but they're often hard to find if you're looking for high-end features. To quickly include the comments which often come up in similar threads - There are some TVs you can find at BestBuy without smart features, but they're usually not 4K. In many cases you can use a "smart" tv, and avoid putting it on your local wifi. Some TVs reportedly require internet access to work a…

It's true, the last TV I bought was a dumb 55" that I got for maybe $480. It was hard to find though, and it was a model a few years old at the time. Incidentally I got it from Best Buy. But absolutely, try to find a new TV with top end display tech without smart features? Nigh impossible, unless you pony up for a commercial display.

Re: Roku is cryptolocking TV’s until you give personal data

#24

Post by nkrisc »

pwinnski wrote: post #9
nkrisc wrote: post #2

Is this a TV with some kind of Roku software built in? I thought Roku was a physical device that you could just unplug. This is why I will only buy "dumb" TVs that can only display input from external sources.

Just last week I bought a TCL Roku TV. The price was right! During setup, I declined to connect to WiFi and then set the TV to automatically switch to HDMI 1 when it turns on, and to honor CEC over HDMI so that my external AppleTV box can power it on and off. Taught the AppleTV remote how to handle the volume on the TV, and that's it. The Roku remote is in a drawer, and the TV behaves as a dumb monitor. I'm not even…

Good to know. I've heard of some that will nag you to connect to WiFi.

Re: Roku is cryptolocking TV’s until you give personal data

#27

Post by prklmn »

excalibur wrote: post #18

Does anybody here know a good alternative? A device you can connect to a dumb TV to play streaming content that doesn't spy on you? All of the commercially available options seem to be selecting a giant corporation to send all your data to. As a "small" company that does this and nothing else, you would think Roku would be a relatively privacy-focused option, but it appears to be the opposite. I feel like we're being…

It appears that Apple TV is the most privacy focused out of the box option https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/product...

Also I think you might be surprised to learn that ROKU's market cap over $18B and most of that is likely due to their user profiling -- https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/20/17595384/roku-ceo-anthony...

Re: Roku is cryptolocking TV’s until you give personal data

#28

Post by everdrive »

excalibur wrote: post #18

Does anybody here know a good alternative? A device you can connect to a dumb TV to play streaming content that doesn't spy on you? All of the commercially available options seem to be selecting a giant corporation to send all your data to. As a "small" company that does this and nothing else, you would think Roku would be a relatively privacy-focused option, but it appears to be the opposite. I feel like we're being…

The best solution is just a computer. Put Windows or Linux on it, whatever you prefer. It can play literally all content. You can install adblockers, whatever you like.

Re: Roku is cryptolocking TV’s until you give personal data

#29

Post by mindslight »

excalibur wrote: post #18

Does anybody here know a good alternative? A device you can connect to a dumb TV to play streaming content that doesn't spy on you? All of the commercially available options seem to be selecting a giant corporation to send all your data to. As a "small" company that does this and nothing else, you would think Roku would be a relatively privacy-focused option, but it appears to be the opposite. I feel like we're being…

It seems like you already know the good alternative - anything that can run Kodi, or other software that you control.

A company maximizing their revenue will inevitably end up implementing surveillance - it's a way to take more value from a relationship after the price has already been set. And if you're willing to pay more to avoid surveillance, this just means you're a more valuable target to surveil!

The only way to overcome is to not play by these given rules in the first place. By definition this means you're being a pirate, whether you're looking for ways to compensate the creators or not.

Re: Roku is cryptolocking TV’s until you give personal data

#30

Post by AznHisoka »

excalibur wrote: post #18

Does anybody here know a good alternative? A device you can connect to a dumb TV to play streaming content that doesn't spy on you? All of the commercially available options seem to be selecting a giant corporation to send all your data to. As a "small" company that does this and nothing else, you would think Roku would be a relatively privacy-focused option, but it appears to be the opposite. I feel like we're being…

"As a "small" company that does this and nothing else, you would think Roku would be a relatively privacy-focused option, but it appears to be the opposite."

Roku is not just a physical device, or an OS. It's also in the advertising business. They stream video ads and display ads when you watch certain shows through Roku. Thus, they want to know a lot more about you to show you relevant ads.

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