3 ms·

> You pay for a TV, yet 'smart' features get included, that spy on you and show you ads. I've heard about this, but what exactly does this mean? I have a smar

> You pay for a TV, yet 'smart' features get included, that spy on you and show you ads. I've heard about this, but what exactly does this mean? I have a smart TV, but I never see ads. Supposedly it's spying on me, but how is it spying on me any more than the Netflix and Hulu subscriptions I already pay for? This is not meant to sound defensive - I do believe it's too good to be true that my TV is as wonderful as I think it is. I'm just trying to understand what is so bad about it?

ryanianian 7y ago
Many new "smart" TVs have "ACR" that sends info about what you're watching (regardless of whether on netflix or hulu or a set-top-box) to the TV manufacturer. [1] Pro-Tip: At least for Samsung TVs you can un-accept the privacy-policy to disable this. This will also disable Netflix and all "smart" features but that's..exactly what I want in a TV. Alternatively just don't give the TV network access, but you may want to do a yearly software-update. [1]: https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/how-to-turn-off-smart-tv-snooping-features/ https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/how-to-turn-off-smar...
- OnlineGladiator 7y ago
  Thank you for this. Now I look forward to seeing all the ways my TV behaves differently now (no voice search, for instance).
albertsondev 7y ago
Some smart TVs show ads outright, most of them phone home on the regular with fingerprints of whatever's on screen. If you need any proof that they profit off of this, "dumb" equivalents of various models, if they exist at all, tend to be significantly more expensive.
autoexec 7y ago
In addition to the "ACR" issue mentioned, smart TVs have been caught throwing up pop-up ads anytime a person changes volume (including over movies/games) and scanning attached media (laptops, hard drives, USB sticks) and sending lists of all accessible files and folders back to the manufacture. Samsung in particular has been pretty shitty with ads and spying.

ryanianian 7y ago

Many new "smart" TVs have "ACR" that sends info about what you're watching (regardless of whether on netflix or hulu or a set-top-box) to the TV manufacturer. [1] Pro-Tip: At least for Samsung TVs you can un-accept the privacy-policy to disable this. This will also disable Netflix and all "smart" features but that's..exactly what I want in a TV. Alternatively just don't give the TV network access, but you may want to do a yearly software-update. [1]: https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/how-to-turn-off-smart-tv-snooping-features/ https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/how-to-turn-off-smar...

OnlineGladiator 7y ago
Thank you for this. Now I look forward to seeing all the ways my TV behaves differently now (no voice search, for instance).

albertsondev 7y ago

Some smart TVs show ads outright, most of them phone home on the regular with fingerprints of whatever's on screen. If you need any proof that they profit off of this, "dumb" equivalents of various models, if they exist at all, tend to be significantly more expensive.

autoexec 7y ago

In addition to the "ACR" issue mentioned, smart TVs have been caught throwing up pop-up ads anytime a person changes volume (including over movies/games) and scanning attached media (laptops, hard drives, USB sticks) and sending lists of all accessible files and folders back to the manufacture. Samsung in particular has been pretty shitty with ads and spying.