I’d like to start a discussion about TV privacy in 2023. I’ve never been interested in having a TV, but recently I was thinking of getting one. Looking into it, the privacy implications seem horrible. All the major brands seem to have cameras, microphones, and content recognition software. I can’t believe how dystopian it is.
I also notice that most of the articles about this are from a few years ago. Are things better now? Do they still collect an Orwellian amount of data?
As I understand it, there are a few mitigation options:
- Leave it disconnected from the internet and use a separate device for streaming. But it sounds like some brands have incessant nag screens, or disable features until connected to the internet. I was looking into the Samsung Frame TV, but I’m not even sure you can use the art mode without internet. Does anyone know?
- Pi-hole set up with a blocklist. It’s disheartening that such a technical solution would be necessary.
- Get a commercial “dumb” display. These are more expensive, and usually thicker.
- Go through the menu and disable privacy violating settings. Does this work? I’m doubtful.
edit: Just to be clear, I am NOT talking about the normal sort of ad tracking that happens when you use streaming services. Netflix knows what you’re watching regardless of what device you use. I’m talking about stuff like a hidden camera recording your facial reactions, microphones recording your private conversations, and screen recording of your viewing activities. This is sci-fi dystopia level creepy.
Honestly, a PC monitor and a separate device connected to it is probably much less bullshit.
Pihole is nice to have regardless of TVs.
Commercial displays are usually very overpriced, although if you can get a good deal that could be nice.
Not sure I’d “trust” any such menu.
I thought PC monitors would be higher priced than commercial displays, but I haven’t really looked into it. It sounds like I should get a pihole either way.
I’ve never bought a TV. I’ve used computer screens for the past 30 years because you can sit closer to them, they’re higher quality, and they do just one thing.
In the 90s, I had a HiFi VCR plugged into my monitor.
In answer to the original question: yes, you can, but you’re unlikely to. Today’s TVs are subsidized by invading your privacy and selling the data. Anyone not doing that couldn’t compete in the market.
You can use a shotgun to hard jailbreak it.
nearly asked you for a tutorial, then re-read lolol…
TV left offline. Small computer(I use linux) attached. Wireless keyboard with a trackpad.
I’ve been doing this for years.
I saw a story a while back about Smart TVs automatically connecting to open WiFi networks to phone home even without the user configuring anything.
There are no open connections around me unless they have an agreement with a cell carier
And how do you handle cable, if you have that is. Or do you use IPTV?
100% streaming on the web
I’ve said this before on Lemmy, but you may want to consider getting a projector instead. They (usually) don’t have any smart-capabilities or Internet connectivity, and with the right setup, the screen size can be bigger than even the biggest consumer TV on the market.
The cons are that you need to be in a dark room, and if you want a really good projector (which you will), it’ll be just as expensive, or even more expensive than buying a TV. Also projectors don’t have OLED.
I think projectors are great. In fact, I currently have one. But there are lots of trade offs. They’re big and take up lots of space, especially the good ones. Placement can be awkward even if you get a short throw, unless you ceiling mount, which isn’t always practical. Relatedly, it can be a pain to hook up to sound because the projector is in the back while you need sound from the front. Image quality can be decent but is still way worse than pretty much all modern TVs. (I hear laser projectors kinda fix this but they’re even more expensive.) It doesn’t turn on instantly; there’s typically a significant warm up period for the lamp. Some units have a noisy fan because the lamp produces a lot of heat. You need a large clear wall space or a rollable screen. I think there’s a reason why projectors are typically in movie rooms and not for more casual spaces.
All this to say, projectors are great but not for all contexts. I wish the decision to get a projector and the decision to get a privacy respecting device were two completely unrelated decisions.
Unfortunately, that no longer seems to be the case. I just did a research and almost all projectors that came into question for me now also have smart features.
Don’t ever trust a “smart” TV until you’ve installed Linux on it. All of the ones I’ve bought so far (the cheapest available at Wal-Mart, usually) are willing to display things without ever having been allowed a network connection. If you manage to buy one that isn’t, return it and complain vigorously.
It didn’t cross my mind that I could run Linux on a tv. (I figured, however, that the pre-installed software is built on Linux.) Are you talking about something like LinuxTV.org
It’s still just as bad. We leave ours disconnected from the internet, but a quick note here: I’ve heard of some tv’s auto-connecting to open WiFi networks if available (though ours does not and nobody near us has an open WiFi network). We just have a very generic Hisense tv from 2019 I think
Wow that’s another level of deceptive. Do you know if the major brands like Samsung, LG, and Sony do things like that? Or are they all equally shitty at this point?
I recently bought a not-smart TV, and it was cheaper than the smart ones. The brand is Sceptre, 65" 4K UHD and - I just checked - it is still selling for $378 at a popular American box retailer’s website who will remain unnamed. 75" is selling for $498.
I absolutely hate the software-ification of everything. It’s worse than worthless. Last TV I bought has held up for almost a decade now. It is 55" and it cost me almost $800, which was a steal at the time. I was kinda floored by the price of the new one, and the picture’s pretty sweet too.
you’re lucky. in my country one can’t get a dumb tv bigger than 32". nobody sells it. not online, not in brick and mortar stores.
Bout 7 years ago I bought a Vizio tv because it was dumb; all the smart features were via a table it came with that chrome cast to the tv. I was reasonably happy with it.
Then in 2018 they pushed a firmware update that made it smart, and literally made the remote that came with the tv useless; you needed to buy a new one from them to use the tv. And naturally it was always out of stock.
Needless to say I won’t be buying a Vizio ever again. I just do LG tvs now, and don’t let them on the network; all streaming is via Apple TV.
Hisense TVs come with a physical microphone switch that disables the mic. Idk if this is on the budget end of TVs but I paid about 1500 for mine and it has it.
I think you should look into Plasma Big screen
I always wondered if I could install a private OS on a smart TV but never found one.
I like Android TVs because I can install f-droid apps on them. Like Cloudstream. I tried to debloat my TV by connecting my laptop to it and running the adb command to remove any bad apps I noticed, but even that’s not perfect.
I wanna become an android developer someday and I might look into developing privacy apps focused on Android TVs.
Edit: I removed google play and it’s services, so spyware shouldn’t be getting updates on my TV and I got it a few years ago now, I think it’s ok for privacy right now.
