6 ms·

Foof, this is yet another reason for me to be completely out on smart tvs. I really don't see the appeal of hooking up my tv to the internet if the only thing

Foof, this is yet another reason for me to be completely out on smart tvs. I really don't see the appeal of hooking up my tv to the internet if the only thing I'll get in return is buggy service integrations and, worse, the tv spying on my viewing habits. This is on top of the added potential for security exploits on a poorly maintained device connected to my home network.

mtgx 10y ago
Smart TVs really need to follow 3D TVs and die as soon as possible. If I want my TV to be "smart". I'll just buy a $50 set top box and change it every 3 years. I don't want a TV that I will keep for 10-12 years to be "smart" and abandoned in terms of updates a year or two after appearing on the market (so not even after purchase).
cptskippy 10y ago
I agree that Smart TVs need to die. I think some sort of law or regulation mandating security updates for the average life expectancy of such devices would ago a long way towards killing off Smart TVs. That's assuming the life expectancy is something reasonable like 5-10 years.
- xenithorb 10y ago
  Or you get TVs that last a lot less ;)
- DannyB2 10y ago
  It's about more than security updates. And this may seem off topic, but bear with me for a moment. Smart devices, including but not limited to Smart TVs. The manufacturers need to be legally and financially liable for damages caused by their devices getting hacked and used as a botnet. When I buy a toaster, I have a reasonable expectation that it won't burn my house down. When I buy a Smart TV, I have a reasonable expectation that it won't get hacked, become part of a botnet and cause massive damage to someone else, far away that I don't even know. It is not impossible to build a very secure IoT device. Anyone who has ever gone through PCI compliance to build a web site or anything else that accepts credit card data knows this. It's not impossible. It's just a very high bar to jump over. Demonstrating a similar level of security should be enough to be able to get insurance in case your IoT devices do get hacked and cause harm. The costs of this would be passed on to consumers. This would make Smart TVs more secure. But I'm also happy to pay more for a toaster that doesn't burn my house down, instead of a super cheap one that is dangerous. This would either kill smart TVs as an economical consumer item, or it would make them very secure. If it kills them, then the data / privacy issue is solved -- to move this back on topic.
  - narrowrail 10y ago
    In the US, this is already covered under civil law. Companies are successfully sued for liable as a result of their products' flaws all the time.
  - asdfasdfa11112 10y ago
    In the case where your device was compromised and used in a botnet attack, wouldn't you need to prove damages? I'm just curious what that argument would look like to a layperson. I suspect the average person wouldn't get too riled up to hear that their internet connection was used to block someone's website, as long as they don't notice it in their service quality. Another tangent -- do any sophisticated botnet systems throttle their connection during an attack to minimize impact on the device/network owner? [edit - in case it's not clear, I'm admittedly ignorant about this kind of stuff, so I was just curious if anyone else can shed some light]
rb808 10y ago
I used to think that too until I bought a new TV that has great Amazon/Netflix/Youtube apps. I suddenly didn't need a different box and have one remote. I'm sure I'll need a new external box in a few years but for now its so simple its perfect.
- manyxcxi 10y ago
  I recently got a Vizio 4K 'tuner free' tv. Basically it's just a chrome cast built in to the display and you just plug your dish/cable tuner in if you have it. Everything runs off your phone or cable box remote. It's nice because I don't have to worry about stuff like the Netflix app aging out and not supporting X,Y,or Z feature. Is my phone up to date? That's it. I'd like to take it a step further and have it COMPLETELY dumb and plug my own chromecast/Roku/whatever in to it. No WiFi, no anything. Give me a good 4K display with whatever processing capabilities make the experience better and then get the hell out of the way. I feel like this one is ALMOST there, just need to go one more step or two- and then quit spying on me would be nice too.
Washuu 10y ago
Even worse than the spying is LG Smart TVs that actively display advertisements in the GUI. I remembered incorrectly which television brand did that, bought a LG on sale, and now I have to remember to keep its MAC address blocked in my router to prevent it from displaying advertisements.

mtgx 10y ago

Smart TVs really need to follow 3D TVs and die as soon as possible. If I want my TV to be "smart". I'll just buy a $50 set top box and change it every 3 years. I don't want a TV that I will keep for 10-12 years to be "smart" and abandoned in terms of updates a year or two after appearing on the market (so not even after purchase).

cptskippy 10y ago

I agree that Smart TVs need to die. I think some sort of law or regulation mandating security updates for the average life expectancy of such devices would ago a long way towards killing off Smart TVs. That's assuming the life expectancy is something reasonable like 5-10 years.

xenithorb 10y ago
Or you get TVs that last a lot less ;)
DannyB2 10y ago
It's about more than security updates. And this may seem off topic, but bear with me for a moment. Smart devices, including but not limited to Smart TVs. The manufacturers need to be legally and financially liable for damages caused by their devices getting hacked and used as a botnet. When I buy a toaster, I have a reasonable expectation that it won't burn my house down. When I buy a Smart TV, I have a reasonable expectation that it won't get hacked, become part of a botnet and cause massive damage to someone else, far away that I don't even know. It is not impossible to build a very secure IoT device. Anyone who has ever gone through PCI compliance to build a web site or anything else that accepts credit card data knows this. It's not impossible. It's just a very high bar to jump over. Demonstrating a similar level of security should be enough to be able to get insurance in case your IoT devices do get hacked and cause harm. The costs of this would be passed on to consumers. This would make Smart TVs more secure. But I'm also happy to pay more for a toaster that doesn't burn my house down, instead of a super cheap one that is dangerous. This would either kill smart TVs as an economical consumer item, or it would make them very secure. If it kills them, then the data / privacy issue is solved -- to move this back on topic.
- narrowrail 10y ago
  In the US, this is already covered under civil law. Companies are successfully sued for liable as a result of their products' flaws all the time.
- asdfasdfa11112 10y ago
  In the case where your device was compromised and used in a botnet attack, wouldn't you need to prove damages? I'm just curious what that argument would look like to a layperson. I suspect the average person wouldn't get too riled up to hear that their internet connection was used to block someone's website, as long as they don't notice it in their service quality. Another tangent -- do any sophisticated botnet systems throttle their connection during an attack to minimize impact on the device/network owner? [edit - in case it's not clear, I'm admittedly ignorant about this kind of stuff, so I was just curious if anyone else can shed some light]

rb808 10y ago

I used to think that too until I bought a new TV that has great Amazon/Netflix/Youtube apps. I suddenly didn't need a different box and have one remote. I'm sure I'll need a new external box in a few years but for now its so simple its perfect.

manyxcxi 10y ago
I recently got a Vizio 4K 'tuner free' tv. Basically it's just a chrome cast built in to the display and you just plug your dish/cable tuner in if you have it. Everything runs off your phone or cable box remote. It's nice because I don't have to worry about stuff like the Netflix app aging out and not supporting X,Y,or Z feature. Is my phone up to date? That's it. I'd like to take it a step further and have it COMPLETELY dumb and plug my own chromecast/Roku/whatever in to it. No WiFi, no anything. Give me a good 4K display with whatever processing capabilities make the experience better and then get the hell out of the way. I feel like this one is ALMOST there, just need to go one more step or two- and then quit spying on me would be nice too.

Washuu 10y ago

Even worse than the spying is LG Smart TVs that actively display advertisements in the GUI. I remembered incorrectly which television brand did that, bought a LG on sale, and now I have to remember to keep its MAC address blocked in my router to prevent it from displaying advertisements.