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Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything

washingtonpost.com

261–270 of 316 posts

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

#262
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just stream using a separate box connected over HDMI.

And then that device will do the same tracking/spying as the TV

They might try, but any such device will likely be much more interchangeable than the TV itself, with more competition. One significant problem with the TV industry at the moment is that competition has failed and essentially they're all at it.

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

#263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Even given all that, Sony TVs are probably still the tamest smart TVs out there. The article seems to say Vizio TVs are better for your privacy than other TVs. The article says Vizio TVs describe ARC in 100 words and people must select accept or decline. That page you linked to says >However, you can accept or decline Sony's Bravia privacy policy, as well as one for Samba TV, the ACR technology Sony uses. You have t…

Vizio is doing those things because the FTC is making them. (See @sologoub's comment) Before that they didn't even ask or tell you about it.

I doubt they're doing the interview because the FTC made them.

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

#265
post #81

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…

What you are looking for are called "Commercial Displays" or "Digital Signage" Expect to pay a premium, but they are generally simple panels built to endure a very heavy duty cycle and harsher-than-a-living-room environment

I looked in to this and at least for large sizes as of earlier this year, commercial displays aren't practical. The premium isn't 10% or 20% (which I'd gladly pay to omit "features" that disclose data to third parties), it's $2000-$5000 (60%-150%).

Also, for that massive premium, commercial displays often don't include HDR, HDMI features (CEC, ARC), and sometimes even 4k. They aren't a realistic solution.

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

#266
post #260
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.

Did you do any market research? You can very easily go to any store and still buy dumb TVs. I don’t know where people get the idea that 100% of tvs are smart tvs, but that is false.

Rtings pretty comprehensively catalogs and reviews mid and high end TVs. The only TV released in the last two years without WiFi or associated smart functionality is a pretty mediocre 49" TCL. While you can certainly still get smaller 1080p TVs without smarts, you shouldn't have to choose between getting a decent size and panel quality or not having a beefy OS built in.

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

#267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or have a GPS and realize that it’s been 12 months since their last mandatory update and lock you out.

Why would you need a GPS for that?

I agree, Could use WWVW or whatever it’s called.

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

#268
post #92

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…

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.

Wouldn't that be trying to circumvent security measures, and therefore very illegal in some jurisdictions?

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

#269
post #111

Unfortunately, I need to consent to tracking by the WaPo to find out how much my Smart TV might be tracking me.

I’ve found disabling JavaScript on their site also disabled their subscription / paywall API which is all JavaScript.

It also happens to disable quite a bit of tracking. Yay for selectively whitelisting JS!
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