this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2025
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Privacy Guides

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In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

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[–] smeg@feddit.uk 24 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The worrying part:

Most TVs on the market today come with a technology called automatic content recognition (ACR) built in. This is basically Shazam for TV — Shazam itself helped popularize the tech — and gives smart TV platforms the ability to monitor what you’re watching by either taking screenshots or capturing audio snippets while you’re watching.

The author then just gives up and says "maybe targeted adverts aren't so bad", concluding that the only way to avoid them is to buy an older TV. Fuck that! Either never connect it to the internet and plug in a more trusted devices, or go for a deep dive down the pihole.

[–] Broken@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Lol. Well, that's most people's take on privacy. OMG they are taking our data and showing us ads that we hate. But I guess we can't do anything about it. Oh well.

[–] hiramfromthechi@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I'm tryna change this and raise awareness about the importance of privacy through this open source project called idcaboutprivacy.

[–] Amaterasu@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Honest question how do we stream from Netflix, HBO Max, Apple TV, etc without connecting to the internet? Also, most of those stream require a recognized device to stream over 1080p. So basically, if you get a new TV wouldn't you be operating it as a old TV on those terms? The alternative that I see is keeping all that you want to watch at 4k in Jellyfin or Emby (don't use Plex it is just pushing ads) but you will need to maintain a library.

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That's what I meant by "never connect it to the internet and plug in a more trusted device", whether that's a Chromecast or your PC you can always plug in something else you trust more than the TV. Obviously finding something you can trust that does everything you want is another story.

[–] Amaterasu@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Yeah, I get it. Disconnecting the TV is a must, and luckily I never even connected mine for many years. The thing is that I'm not sure that we can trust in the licensed devices either. Chromecast, Fire TV, Nvidia, etc... All of them have trackers as well. A PC or a Pi would have the limitation of streaming at maximum 1080p resolution for some streamers providers such as Netflix. It is quite a challenge!

[–] chaoticnumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Opnsense, pfsense, adguard home, pi-hole. Look into them, start caring about your privacy. Not because you have nothing to hide, but because one day your data might be used against you.

We need to have a community wiki with TVs where the WiFi chip can be reliably desoldered

[–] nitefox@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I just use my appleTV 4K with my samsung tv disconnected from the internet

[–] archy@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So, how's that in the privacy aspect?

[–] nitefox@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago

Better than most alternatives I guess, or even stock tv

[–] Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

I run a pi hole and use my laptop (Linux) connected to a projector. No hassle.

[–] Sebo@lemmy.one 4 points 2 months ago

Terry warned us

[–] ReticulatedPasta@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Many smart TVs allow you to disagree to the privacy policy during setup, which allows you to use it as a "dumb TV" which doesn't connect to WiFi or have other apps installed. I know Sony TVs do this and I've heard others do the same.

[–] sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today 0 points 2 months ago

A simple first step to helping oneself learn better ways to deal with this problem is to setup NextDNS on your router and use their Roku or similar content filters.