Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

Post by zombot » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:28 AM UTC

al_borland wrote: post #180

SoftTalker wrote: post #145

> Despite repeated warnings from the FBI and security industry leaders about the security and privacy risks of using these streaming devices, major e-commerce providers like Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg and others continue to sell hundreds of different models and brands I scanned the comments and I didn't see anyone suggesting that these companies should share any responsibility for selling these harmful products. Why is…

One of the main value propositions for retailers in a world of endless cheap garbage being sold online, is to vet products so customers can trust that what their buying is from a legitimate company and not junk or stuff like these streaming sticks. This is the problem with being an “everything store”. “Everything” includes a lot of things most consumers would like to be protected from, and assume they are due to the…

Post by kkotak » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:53 AM UTC

stubish wrote: post #359

perpetuallunch wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Difficult to distinguish between actual slave labour and China-is-bad propaganda. Harm to the end user: none^ Benefits to the end user: more affordable tomato paste Government action to prevent slave labour products entering Australia: none^ ^close enough.

It is perfectly legal to sell Chinese tomatoes in Australia (which is not necessarily a good thing, re: forced labour in Italy and China). The fraud is mislabeling them as Australian or similar, denying consumers from making their own ethical choice. Which is your harm to the end user and generally enforced by the ACCC.

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:19 AM UTC

deepfriedbits wrote: post #136

ta988 wrote: post #127

A familly member had one of those (he had to pay a yearly subscription in addition to the stick). Network would be unusable as soon as it was on for anyone else, and it also tried to scan things on the local network. It was indeed connecting to all kind of services all over the world (and saturating some tables in the router doing so which blocked other clients). Definitely evil, definitely on purpose.

Reading this, I caught myself wondering how we distill what's in this excellent write up into something the average consumer understands, including the dangers from buying and using devices like this. Is it a graphic that's shared? Something else? I am sure we all know or have heard of people with these devices that promise free streaming.

Post by __turbobrew__ » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:37 AM UTC

simojo wrote: post #108

We purchased a Chinese-made projector from Amazon, which was surprisingly inexpensive (~40 USD). Upon connecting it to the internet, it placed a constantly running feed of ads on the corner of the screen, even while movies were playing. There was no way to disable it either. Even though it's not a stick, it's a similar principle.

Post by __turbobrew__ » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:42 AM UTC

matheusmoreira wrote: post #105

That reminds me, I need to configure VLANs in my router so that all my trusted computers are isolated from all the other garbage that makes it into the network.