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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

#181
Earlier this year my company pitched anonymization solution for smart TV and smart home appliances to LG and Samsung representatives in Korea.

Their reaction to a proposal was, to put it kindly, terrifying and highly defensive. They said they are doing nothing wrong, no data has been leaked snd that there is no future for our solution, sensing huge discomfort.

Quite evident they have zero interest to gamble status quo on current situation.

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

#183
post #58

A “Dumb TV” is something I’m exploring developing. There is a gap in the market for a TV with a great panel, no internet connection, and only the processing strictly required for various types of signal processing and format conversion. The closest available solutions are large commercial monitors that cost an arm and a leg.

Would be interested as well.

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

#184

I had a very nice Sharp Aquos TV for a long time. One of the first reasonably priced 1080p 65" TVs. It had absolutely no "smart" features, which was perfectly fine with me. I have my TV hooked up to a home theatre system and have my devices (PS4/AppleTV/XB1/Nvidia Shield) hooked up to that. I recently upgraded to a LG 4K OLED TV. It's an absolutely gorgeous TV, but, I absolutely lament the "smart" features of this TV…

[deleted]

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

#185

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…

Why do you trust Microsoft more? They have the most egregious and base level of data collection compared to any other company. Their collection from the OS is pervasive and deep. The inability to truly disable Cortana is evidence that we don't own our purchased software anymore, merely borrow it from the big tech companies.

In terms of undermining user ownership, MS has done more than most with help from Apple. I can get a different webmail provider and use a different search engine. Changing operating systems to Linux from one that actively fights you to run your computer for you is something else entirely.

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

#186

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…

Why do you trust Microsoft more? They have the most egregious and base level of data collection compared to any other company. Their collection from the OS is pervasive and deep. The inability to truly disable Cortana is evidence that we don't own our purchased software anymore, merely borrow it from the big tech companies. In terms of undermining user ownership, MS has done more than most with help from Apple. I can…

I should clarify that I do not trust Microsoft more in terms of data collection, rather that security patches will be automatically pushed to an Xbox one. And that it has a relatively low likelihood of becoming part of a botnet, or compromised by a persistent form of Trojan.

Good luck getting a software update for a four-year-old smart TV running some obsolete version of Android. Or WebOS.

Xbox 360s are 12+ years old now and are still generally considered something that is safe to have on your home network, and not vulnerable to any known in the wild remote code execution.

Xbox one or PlayStation 4 has considerably lower chances of becoming a malicious, virus-infected device on my home network.

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

#187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I can see a future where it will be necessary to start opening up new consumer electronics and using small wire cutters, precision screwdrivers and needle nose pliers to physically rip out the Wi-Fi functionality.

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

#188
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There are some still out there (in Australia - YMMV). I just bought this on Wednesday: http://www.bauhn.com.au/product-listing/58-4k-ultra-hd-tv-AT...

Aldi has very very questionable quality though. I've had multiple DOAs, and multiple of their things die within months.

They're good with warranty returns, but usually can't give you a replacement product due to how they do batch/bulk sales and don't keep recurring stock, so you generally end up with a refund and have to start shopping around again for an equivalent product.

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

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you trust Microsoft more? They have the most egregious and base level of data collection compared to any other company. Their collection from the OS is pervasive and deep. The inability to truly disable Cortana is evidence that we don't own our purchased software anymore, merely borrow it from the big tech companies. In terms of undermining user ownership, MS has done more than most with help from Apple. I can…

I should clarify that I do not trust Microsoft more in terms of data collection, rather that security patches will be automatically pushed to an Xbox one. And that it has a relatively low likelihood of becoming part of a botnet, or compromised by a persistent form of Trojan. Good luck getting a software update for a four-year-old smart TV running some obsolete version of Android. Or WebOS. Xbox 360s are 12+ years old…

Yeah I can agree with that. Samsung's apps on the older tvs need updating and in my experience they do not deliver the firmware updates they promise might happen at sale.

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

#190

Quick question for anyone who understands legal side of this, would Smart TV/ Smart TV manufacturers fall under CCPA when it goes into effect?

IANAL, but if the data is being shared with “3rd parties” and/or “service providers” they definitely would. Sadly, I doubt it will actually be enforced by the California AG anytime soon.
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