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> If you own an Internet-connected TV, you've been seeing these for 2 years or more How to prevent all Samsung tracking and advertising: 1. Factory reset your
by TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
> If you own an Internet-connected TV, you've been seeing these for 2 years or more
How to prevent all Samsung tracking and advertising:
1. Factory reset your Samsung TV.
2. When promoted to accept the Samsung EULA, select no/reject
3. Attach computer or streaming stick to Samsung HDMI port (Windows, mac, chromebook, appleTV, chromecast, Amazon Firestick, Roku stick). I use an ancient PC with Linux Mint installed. You can use KODI or Plex if you like that interface, but I don’t.
4. Select that HDMI input on the TV.
5. Enjoy streaming video with Samsung-free ads and Samsung-free tracking
Optional but recommended: Logitech wireless K400 keyboard/touchpad ($20)
- creddit 6y agoOr just like not even connect it to the internet at all?
- overlordalex 6y agoThere's reports of some models connecting to any open wifi networks, which would include your neighbours. And it's only a matter of time until they come with built-in sim cards
- WrtCdEvrydy 6y agoFree Internet... just buy this shitty TV, and return it :P
- centimeter 6y agoRecent model toyota vehicles come with a "telematics" unit with a built-in SIM card that sends GPS data, driving data, video from the front camera, etc. to Toyota and the "agreement" in the manual says they can do ~whatever they want with it. If you power down the telematics module (by removing the fuse), the carplay microphone doesn't work (because the microphone runs through the telematics module). If you remove or cut the antenna on the module, you get a Check Engine light, which means you can't register your vehicle in many states. You have to call toyota, ask them to turn off all the data collection, and hope they really do it. It's really sad to see a historically very good car company fall so far.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y agoThanks for sharing that. Is the SIM card removable like in mobile phones?
- Scoundreller 6y agoDunno about this unit, but a lot of satellite decoder boxes come with the smart card 'chip' soldered onto the board and the smart card slot remains empty until they need to change the security.
- shrubble 6y agoIs there a way to shield/block the antenna without the Check Engine light coming on?
- egberts1 6y agoYes, you can disconnect the antenna and attach a resister load there.
- TaylorAlexander 6y agoCar comes with built on radio, microphone goes through radio... My god whyyyy do we do this.
- himinlomax 6y agoThat so contradicts the GDPR, it's almost comical. I'm sure they don't plan on turning that on in the EU, but things could get interesting if such "features" end up in the area somehow ... how much is 5% of Toyota's revenue?
- m463 6y agoNissan does this too. and it can do voice. However disconnecting it didn't change the way the car worked.
- 3np 6y agoI think you just nailed why many companies are overly excited about 5G.
- Unklejoe 6y agoCan't wait until someone grabs the sim or hacks the firmware to use it as a general purpose data connection.
- nostromo 6y ago1. Turn off your Samsung TV's internet connection 2. Connect Apple TV via HDMI Not only does this improve your privacy, but it improves the UI and remote of your TV.
- ogre_codes 6y ago> Not only does this improve your privacy, but it improves the UI and remote of your TV. Two out of three anyhow... the Apple TV remote is pretty mediocre. Gets rid of a lot of junk I never use, and a bunch of stuff I really miss (the mute button for starters).
- nyjah 6y agoIt's weird, I've had 1/3 Apple remotes work well. But in the settings you can connect any remote to the AppleTV and program the buttons. That works really well!
- nikon 6y agoI prefer using a Logitech Harmony 665, program it once and good to go for all devices.
- robbiep 6y agoUsing your phone as a remote is awesome. If your HDMI has CEC/ARC you can switch the TV in just by pulling down the remote widget and pressing the screen. And you can fill password and search fields. And anyone can use it once they’ve paired
- ogre_codes 6y agoMost of the time the Apple remote is just fine... mostly it's the fact that it's easily reversible and lacks a mute button that bugs me.
- willstrafach 6y agoThis one is well worth a try: https://www.amazon.com/Remote-Control-Alternative-Replacement-Original/dp/B087WSXQ92 https://www.amazon.com/Remote-Control-Alternative-Replacemen...
- grey_earthling 6y agoTangent: what interface do you use instead of Kodi etc? On my (Silverblue) laptop I've been using a simple video player (Celluloid), youtube_dl/get_iplayer/bashpodder, plus a bash script to select and play the “next” episode. That works nicely for recorded/downloaded audio and video, but doesn't address live streams.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y agoI don’t use anything special: VLC instead of Celluloid. Web browser for YouTube, Netflix,, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, bbc iplayer (I use FoxyProxy UK proxy since I’m not in the UK), ITV. I also have an HDTV antenna and use the Samsung remote to switch inputs for it, but it is rarely used (broadcast TV content just sucks where I am), although there is also locast.org if you like that. That’s a lot of content for me, but I still sometimes use Stream.io (also with FoxyProxy VPN) to stream films from Pirate Bay instead of downloading. And if I want to watch download/save something or watch content I already stored, I have a synology NAS that’s mounted over SMB ( or NFS?) for that. There’s also a DVD player in the ancient PC but we don’t use it (however VLC plays dvds just fine). Honestly this is much more quality content than me or my family could ever consume. The family does not mind the keyboards/touchpad interface for the TV even though they don’t know Linux... UI is so simple it does not matter. I did increase font size even though it’s a 65-inch screen.
- kelleyk 6y ago_Can_ you reject Samsung's EULA? My Q90T prompts me to accept it every time it's turned on, but the only option appears to be to accept it. I can't find a "no/reject" option. I do what you suggest in step (3), and never connect it the TV to a network, but it's still concerning.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y agoI can on my 2019 model. Maybe they changed it? What happens if you ignore it and switch HDMI inputs with the remote?
- kelleyk 6y agoYou can absolutely ignore it, even without switching inputs; it appears above the menu/input bar at the bottom and isn't modal. However, it reappears every time the TV is turned on. At some point, a houseguest (assuming those are a thing at some point in the future) is going to hit "okay", or I'm going to do so accidentally while fumbling with the remote, and that isn't the same thing as actual/deliberate consent from me, the owner of the device.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y agoAre you saying it displays even when the input source is selected for your external device/computer? That does not happen for me. And when I turn off/on the TV, it remembers the last selected input source -- so the external device/computer displays right away.
- m463 6y agoIs it a pre-gdpr model? When GDPR went through a lot of companies changed... slightly...
- dannyw 6y agoGDPR applies to all practices after a certain date, not just hardware sold after XYZ. Try sending a letter to their privacy officer. You might get a model upgrade ;)
- edhelas 6y ago1. Don't buy a smart TV 2. Done
- riku_iki 6y agoNowdays it means "don't buy TV"..
- TedDoesntTalk 6y agoYou're not going to get 65" or 70" monitors at anywhere near the cost of a 65" or 70" TV.
- ptx 6y agoWhat do you buy instead? I don't imagine it's easy to find a recent, high-quality TV without "smart" features. A few years ago, I looked into getting a digital signage display instead, but they were pretty expensive.
- qchris 6y agoI can't speak for people using actual modems, but my household cut the cord a while back and just uses a really big computer monitor attached directly to a dedicated cheap computer for pulling up Netflix, Hulu, etc. or watching local movies. There's a tiny portable keyboard/touchpad combo for it as the "remote".
- bo1024 6y agoYou can also look at 1080p projectors, although they are expensive.
- barrkel 6y agoThey are not that expensive, particularly when you consider you can have a 100" screen without needing to dedicate a whole lot of space - a pull-down screen can be rolled up when not in use.
- cure 6y ago
- koolba 6y agoDon’t forget step 6: 6. Repeat factory reset every time “helpful” guests “fix” the internet on your tv.
- AdmiralAsshat 6y ago>2. When promoted to accept the Samsung EULA, select no/reject Does the device continue to function? On some recent gaming consoles, if you select "No", you're basically left with an expensive paperweight.
- fapjacks 6y agoHello! I would like to recommend to everyone one of the few utilities I've found in the last few years which blew my socks off, called x2x [0]. It is a small console program you can use to link your X session with a remote session (over SSH), so that you can move your mouse off your current laptop (or whatever) desktop and onto the remote "TV computer" desktop, and type things into that desktop with your keyboard. I'd been dreaming about this for years before I randomly stumbled on it. You can run it and just forget about it since it isn't literally streaming a series of JPGs like VNC. I've been using it with ZERO problems now for a couple of years exactly for this purpose. [0] https://github.com/dottedmag/x2x https://github.com/dottedmag/x2x
- TedDoesntTalk 6y agoHow is this different than Synergy (which I’ve been using on Linux, mac, and Windows for years)? Is it the same functionality?
- fapjacks 6y agoI have no idea. Perhaps you could research this and report back your findings?