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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

#231

Post by Silhouette »

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #140
Silhouette wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been arguing for a long time that the "don't connect it to your network" defence was insufficient because sooner or later these devices will simply start including their own connectivity as well. Various other categories of device, notably cars, already do, and frequently abuse it for tracking purposes. My take on this is that we should impose the kind of draconian restrictions we have here in the UK on products…

"We collect viewing data when you use our TV in order to recommend other content you might like" will probably not really move the needle for most consumers.

And if it doesn't and they accept that by genuine choice, that's fine, it's an informed decision.

But equally, maybe some people wouldn't be comfortable with, "This device contains a camera and microphone that are always on and an independent Internet connection that you cannot block. We cannot guarantee that the software in this device is 100% secure and we only guarantee to update that software for 12 months after the date of purchase. We do not control some online services used by this device and Internet-connected features of this device might break at any time with no way to fix them. There is a {regulator-imposed description/statistic} chance that someone will be able to hack your device, watch and listen to the area around it including other nearby rooms, and provide hackers with access to any other devices and activity on your home network. This device will upload information about what you watch and when to {names of business(es)}, which will use the data to profile you including guessing your family make-up, wealth, interests and vulnerability to advertising, and this information will be sold to {list of recipients} who may use it to {purposes}."

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

#232

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

r3vrse wrote: post #150
chime wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buy the best TV that fits your needs. Do not configure the Smart TV features at all. If it requires Internet access for initial configuration, setup your phone as a hotspot with a temporary password. Once configured, change your phone hotspot password and disable it. I have many Smart TVs, all working great as dumb monitors for my AppleTVs. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Anecdotal: was setting up some Hisense TVs at work the other day and the unit came up with a message that "all Network features" would be disabled if you declined the EULA. Immediately thought "works for me". I wonder if any other manufacturer offers that choice. Edit: commercial signage panels are about as close as you get to dumb TVs these days. Rarely include any smart features, can get in quite large sizes. Not O…

FWIW - I discovered recently that Hisense is actually owned by the Chinese state government, if that kind of thing matters to you.

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

#233

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

tristor wrote: post #168
SteveNuts wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you need a GPS for that?

GPS provides high quality RTC signals. So the TV could update its time with high accuracy via GPS and countdown a timer.

Thankfully the majority of people use their TV indoors.

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

#234

Post by ownagefool »

nr152522 wrote: post #43
ownagefool wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'd really like slightly better support for plugging in something smart into a dumb TV. In the UK, if my shield would show freeview TV channels I'd probably never need to leave the interface, and thus I'd be happy to lock a TV into a shield slave. Unfortunately it just doesn't work like that for us over here though.

I have a HD Homerun and the channels app for that. I’m using the shield exclusively for smart features and the OLED as a dumb display.

That's interesting. Thanks of making me aware.

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

#235

Post by 2wrist »

denkmoon wrote: post #152
smileybarry wrote: post #83

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.

Oh... thats where you are going wrong, when reheating pizza it is best to use a pan, although the base may get crispy. The oven works quite well too. Sure they take longer but tastes so much better!

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

#236

Post by nizmow »

walrus01 wrote: post #186
friendlybus wrote: post #185

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…

I trust them in the sense that they're going to _mostly_ keep the data they steal to themselves and are capable of doing so.

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

#237

Post by sintaxi »

cbg0 wrote: post #215
Diesel555 wrote: post #206

Roku scares me when I'm watching movies on my Rapsberry Pi. They are .mp4 files. I'm not using their software at all... and about 2 minutes in I get a pop-up "You can view this move elsewhere at XYZ." How do they know what movie I'm watching? They are analyzing the feed. Scary.

> They are analyzing the feed. Scary. More likely just looking at the title of the file and matching that against themoviedb.

My guess would be the distribution companies provide them a hash table of MD5s that maps popular torrents to places where they can be purchased. The company that makes the TV sells this services to the distribution company and/or gets a cut of the sales. Furthermore, it probably logs the IP of the person watching the pirated file and sells that data also.

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

#240

Post by a_imho »

roel_v wrote: post #18

So I have a samsung tv, and I like the apps - I use the youtube one every day, and several others several times a week. How do I leverage the gdpr to find out who knows what about me?

You probably need to contact the DPO of each company starting with Samsung and/or consult their dedicated GDPR resources. Unfortunately GDPR is not really enforced thus fails to live up to its promise. In theory you should have nothing to worry about unless you opted in to their data collecting shenanigans.

Even if you are prepared to exercise your rights under GDPR in my experience the usual modus operandi is asking for more data via various registration forms and accounts or sending copies of personal IDs. Then if you manage to hand in a Data Request or Deletion Request there is no way to find out whether they really complied or not, making it pointless.

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