15 ms·

If you don't like this: 1) Buy an Nvidia Shield, Google Chromecast, or Apple TV 2) Connect that to your TV 3) Factory reset your TV and never connect it to t

by buro9 6y ago

If you don't like this: 1) Buy an Nvidia Shield, Google Chromecast, or Apple TV 2) Connect that to your TV 3) Factory reset your TV and never connect it to the internet again

troydavis 6y ago
This really is the only viable option right now, and specifically only the Apple TV. The Shield and Chromecast are slight improvements, but of the mainstream TV choices, Apple TV is literally the only product that puts your privacy first.
- drewg123 6y ago
  And sadly, you need to trade your freedom for your privacy with AppleTV. I have a shield so that I can sideload apps like NewPipe and Kodi. I wish AppleTV would allow side-loading apps. That would be the best of both worlds.
  - beagle3 6y ago
    Apple TV does let you. You just have to reload them once a week, or factor an additional $100 into the price to only do that only once a year.
    - Answerawake 6y ago
      Is a there a good collection of Idevice apps somewhere that we can take and compile and use for this purpose? I am starting to go down the path of making my own simple versions of popular apps like Twitter or pulling the backend apis of other apps for stores all in an effort to remove as much tracking as I can while still keeping functionality. For example, there is a popular convenience store app that gives discounts on items such as coffee but in addition to the standard tracking, I also discovered code that indicates they are using bluetooth beacons to do in store tracking. Instead I am pulling their api to fetch the deals so I can ditch the app. Would be great if there is an existing collection so I can ditch more official apps more easily.
      - beagle3 6y ago
        https://altstore.io/ https://altstore.io/ is the best known. Google "alternative app stores for ios", there are many. (Not an endorsement; Have not used any of them myself).
        Answerawake 6y ago
        Ah yes I remember AltStore when it came out. Left it on my phone for a while but all that was ever published was his emulator(which kept crashing btw). I wonder if the store has improved since.
yfy33 6y ago
You think a Google fucking Chromecast is better? Its entire reason for existing is to expand your advertising profile to include your watching habits. Its behavior in this area manifests in other ways, but it is the exact same thing. How is that not obvious? Ed: oh no did I offend the precious snowflakes by using a bad word? The flag button is probably what you were looking for, you incompetent buffoons thinking Google’s got your back on anything advertising or privacy related
beagle3 6y ago
This is a temporary measure. Soon enough, they will have 5G or 6G modems inside, a special arrangement with carriers (a la Amazon’s whispernet), and You would have to wrap it in tinfoil to stop it from reporting on your viewing habits and showing you ads.
- RealStickman_ 6y ago
  At that point maybe it would be lucrative for people handy with the soldering iron to remove those modems and resell the TV.
  - beagle3 6y ago
    They would also need to to root the TV as well, as it will refuse to work without said modem being functional. This is a losing game, and it seems like the only recourse is regulatory.
- xenadu02 6y ago
  IIRC don't Samsung TVs already connect to any open access point they can find in an attempt to upload analytics, or was that Vizio? I definitely remember someone was doing that, meaning not connecting to the network only worked if there were no open APs around. I'm sure soon enough the TVs will refuse to boot unless connected to the internet.
  - calmworm 6y ago
    I recently turned on my Vizio to see it had updated its firmware and I was forced to accept terms of use and privacy policies from both Vizio and Google before I could do anything else on the TV. It was essentially bricked unless I accepted. I accepted, then immediately unplugged the TV from the network, removed the WiFi information and manually entered bad DNS settings. I rebooted the TV and it reconnected to WiFi automatically! Not happy. Forget network, re-enter bad settings, check router logs... it’s no longer connected in any way that I’m aware of, through my network anyway. Very negative experience.
- donor20 6y ago
CraneWorm 6y ago
or buy a dumb TV and connect a computer

by buro9 6y ago

If you don't like this: 1) Buy an Nvidia Shield, Google Chromecast, or Apple TV 2) Connect that to your TV 3) Factory reset your TV and never connect it to the internet again

troydavis 6y ago

This really is the only viable option right now, and specifically only the Apple TV. The Shield and Chromecast are slight improvements, but of the mainstream TV choices, Apple TV is literally the only product that puts your privacy first.

drewg123 6y ago
And sadly, you need to trade your freedom for your privacy with AppleTV. I have a shield so that I can sideload apps like NewPipe and Kodi. I wish AppleTV would allow side-loading apps. That would be the best of both worlds.
- beagle3 6y ago
  Apple TV does let you. You just have to reload them once a week, or factor an additional $100 into the price to only do that only once a year.
  - Answerawake 6y ago
    Is a there a good collection of Idevice apps somewhere that we can take and compile and use for this purpose? I am starting to go down the path of making my own simple versions of popular apps like Twitter or pulling the backend apis of other apps for stores all in an effort to remove as much tracking as I can while still keeping functionality. For example, there is a popular convenience store app that gives discounts on items such as coffee but in addition to the standard tracking, I also discovered code that indicates they are using bluetooth beacons to do in store tracking. Instead I am pulling their api to fetch the deals so I can ditch the app. Would be great if there is an existing collection so I can ditch more official apps more easily.
    - beagle3 6y ago
      https://altstore.io/ https://altstore.io/ is the best known. Google "alternative app stores for ios", there are many. (Not an endorsement; Have not used any of them myself).
      - Answerawake 6y ago
        Ah yes I remember AltStore when it came out. Left it on my phone for a while but all that was ever published was his emulator(which kept crashing btw). I wonder if the store has improved since.

yfy33 6y ago

You think a Google fucking Chromecast is better? Its entire reason for existing is to expand your advertising profile to include your watching habits. Its behavior in this area manifests in other ways, but it is the exact same thing. How is that not obvious? Ed: oh no did I offend the precious snowflakes by using a bad word? The flag button is probably what you were looking for, you incompetent buffoons thinking Google’s got your back on anything advertising or privacy related

beagle3 6y ago

This is a temporary measure. Soon enough, they will have 5G or 6G modems inside, a special arrangement with carriers (a la Amazon’s whispernet), and You would have to wrap it in tinfoil to stop it from reporting on your viewing habits and showing you ads.

RealStickman_ 6y ago
At that point maybe it would be lucrative for people handy with the soldering iron to remove those modems and resell the TV.
- beagle3 6y ago
  They would also need to to root the TV as well, as it will refuse to work without said modem being functional. This is a losing game, and it seems like the only recourse is regulatory.
xenadu02 6y ago
IIRC don't Samsung TVs already connect to any open access point they can find in an attempt to upload analytics, or was that Vizio? I definitely remember someone was doing that, meaning not connecting to the network only worked if there were no open APs around. I'm sure soon enough the TVs will refuse to boot unless connected to the internet.
- calmworm 6y ago
  I recently turned on my Vizio to see it had updated its firmware and I was forced to accept terms of use and privacy policies from both Vizio and Google before I could do anything else on the TV. It was essentially bricked unless I accepted. I accepted, then immediately unplugged the TV from the network, removed the WiFi information and manually entered bad DNS settings. I rebooted the TV and it reconnected to WiFi automatically! Not happy. Forget network, re-enter bad settings, check router logs... it’s no longer connected in any way that I’m aware of, through my network anyway. Very negative experience.
donor20 6y ago

CraneWorm 6y ago

or buy a dumb TV and connect a computer