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Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything

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Re: Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything

#152

In my opinion you should not use ANY of the smart features of a "smart" TV. Don't give it your wifi key and don't put it on your LAN. I have about 400% more trust of Microsoft and Sony than I do of random smart tv manufacturers. I also have a fairly high degree of confidence that the xbox one and PS4 software will remain up to date with security patches, and address critical issues quickly. I have no confidence for T…

> I have about 400% more trust of Microsoft and Sony than I do of random smart tv manufacturers. It should be noted Sony's TVs are different than their game consoles in what they collect and do. They run a relatively clean version of Android TV except for "Samba TV", which is yet another piece of show-recognizing (known as ACR) analytics. However, you can apparently decline its privacy policy on initial setup and eve…

Perhaps it is time to wrap our TVs and other consumer electronics in faraday tape.

I can't wait until my microwave tells the manufacturer how often I'm reheating my pizza.

Re: Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything

#154
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure creating a network without no internet access is going to be a long term solution. It's entirely likely that they will create future functionality in these devices to cycle through open networks and networks to which they have credentials for until they find one with internet access.

HDMI will share its connection through the cable as well. So if you want to use a Chromecast or a BluRay player, etc, then your TV can get internet through that.

Apparently we now need HDMI condoms. Do such things exist?

Re: Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything

#155

In my opinion you should not use ANY of the smart features of a "smart" TV. Don't give it your wifi key and don't put it on your LAN. I have about 400% more trust of Microsoft and Sony than I do of random smart tv manufacturers. I also have a fairly high degree of confidence that the xbox one and PS4 software will remain up to date with security patches, and address critical issues quickly. I have no confidence for T…

LG and Samsung both use Linux for their Smart OS and there are a few Android TVs.

Also, fun fact, my cable boxes from Verizon also run Linux :P

Re: Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything

#156
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure creating a network without no internet access is going to be a long term solution. It's entirely likely that they will create future functionality in these devices to cycle through open networks and networks to which they have credentials for until they find one with internet access.

HDMI will share its connection through the cable as well. So if you want to use a Chromecast or a BluRay player, etc, then your TV can get internet through that.

Can you please point to any consumer product that has implemented the Ethernet channel of HDMI?

Re: Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything

#157

Has anyone successfully hacked any of these TVs to disable the smart features? I would pay some money for this kind of firmware patch on a future purchase. It seems crazy that the software is so terrible and yet nobody has found a way to disable it.

LG and Samsung use Linux. Might be some fun to had analyzing any source code releases.

Re: Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything

#158

In my opinion you should not use ANY of the smart features of a "smart" TV. Don't give it your wifi key and don't put it on your LAN. I have about 400% more trust of Microsoft and Sony than I do of random smart tv manufacturers. I also have a fairly high degree of confidence that the xbox one and PS4 software will remain up to date with security patches, and address critical issues quickly. I have no confidence for T…

I have a cheap, Chinese make 'smart' TV... (Le Eco).. e the company has gone under quite some time ago... It runs in it's own vlan with only access to the DNS (pihole).

It's consistently the top blocked client on my home network! Ott. Nielsenccdata.tv

Re: Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When i got my samsung smart tv 4 years ago i actually read the EULA and was so disgusted i refused to agree. It lives its life as a computer monitor, and a buggy one at that. I doubt there is a way to update the firmware without agreeing. Moral of the story: dont buy smart TVs.

If you want a TV, is there any alternative? We got a new TV last year and I (joe shmoe average user) didn't see any that weren't smart.

I might have to get a projector

Re: Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything

#160
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just unplug it from the network. That should get rid of most of it. I have an LG smart TV that has never seen the network. I get no ads, no popups, no features, no EULA, nothing. It behaves like a dumb TV. It was the LG 65UH series from Costco.

HDMI cables can double as Ethernet cables. In the future "just unplug it from the network" will mean "just unplug all HDMI devices".

Please stop repeating this. Yes, it's in the spec, but can you find anything that actually implements it? Manufacturers can barely get HDMI CEC working, let alone Ethernet.
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