Smart TVs like Samsung, LG and Roku are tracking everything • Hacker News Board

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

#291

Post by tenebrisalietum » Fri, Nov 29, 2019, 10:46 PM UTC

soared wrote: post #260

nrp wrote: 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.

I did. I went to Walmart for their pre-Black Friday sales that start at 6pm, and couldn't find any. Sample size: Easily 500 people in and out of that store per hour, I was there 2 hours.

Walmart represents a store that is easy to go to for much of the US population. That means a good percentage of people in the US are buying TVs at places that don't offer non-smart TVs for sale.

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

#292

Post by tenebrisalietum » Fri, Nov 29, 2019, 10:49 PM UTC

thom wrote: post #51

TVs used to be on and showing you a picture before you took your thumb off the channel button on your remote. Good times.

The old CRTs I grew up with need a good 15-20 seconds to warm up first, but you did have the audio pretty instantly.

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

#293

Post by crtasm » Fri, Nov 29, 2019, 11:13 PM UTC

sintaxi wrote: post #237

cbg0 wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

All the device is seeing in this case is audio+video over the HDMI connection, no way it can md5sum the source file.

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

#294

Post by deogeo » Fri, Nov 29, 2019, 11:22 PM UTC

walrus01 wrote: post #33

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…

> Microsoft and Sony have teams of lawyers who've drafted the data collection/data sharing/opt-out policies for what their current generation game consoles track and phone home about.

Those lawyers are looking out for MS and Sony, not you. Their job is to make sure everything is legal, not ethical.

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

#295

Post by buckminster » Fri, Nov 29, 2019, 11:44 PM UTC

ghettoimp wrote: post #132

yummypaint wrote: post #101

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 bought a cheap TV from Argos, a UK catalogue store. No smart features. Still working well after a year.

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

#296

Post by smileybarry » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 9:09 AM UTC

Thorrez wrote: post #263

smileybarry wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I was referring to the disclosure, simple privacy policy, and option to decline. I'm fairly certain the interview is one of many PR moves to restore their reputation.

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

#297

Post by neop1x » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 10:55 AM UTC

walrus01 wrote: post #33

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 would also never connect smart TV to the internet. Years ago we purchased dumb plasma TV and set up a Linux box on older PC. The main part is Kodi (XBMC) which has addons for various online services + we have Tvheadend on another box for satelite and DVB-T2 recording. All two DVB-T2 muxes we are receiving are also sent multicast on the LAN using dvblast. Kodi can be controlled via an app on the smartphone or it's web interface. This has been working for years, some maintenance was needed but I am happy with it and don't plan changing it. This TV box is also a Kubernetes worker node for light workloads :D but that's another story.

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

#298

Post by Cougher » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 11:54 AM UTC

2wrist wrote: post #235

denkmoon wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

An air fryer works wonderfully to reheat pizza or anything else involving bread. If it's something thick like a sandwich, I'll give it a low power preheat in the microwave first.

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

#299

Post by pedrorissato » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:47 PM UTC

I kinda have a felling that in a future not to far, iots devices collecting our data will be mandatory... and if you want a device that do not collect your data you'll probably end it up having to pay 3-5x more for that product. Its kind of an addiction and companies need rehab already.

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

#300

Post by panpanna » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:59 PM UTC

pedrorissato wrote: post #299

I kinda have a felling that in a future not to far, iots devices collecting our data will be mandatory... and if you want a device that do not collect your data you'll probably end it up having to pay 3-5x more for that product. Its kind of an addiction and companies need rehab already.

This is most certainly what will happen if there is not a massive push back from consumers soon.

And I don't see it coming. Older people don't even seem to care that Imo is secretly recording them as longs as they can videochat with their grandchildren. Younger people are just happy for their new shiny toys.