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You can achieve the same effect by not connecting the television to wifi or Ethernet. Sadly that means you’re also buying the device to plug it into, which is

You can achieve the same effect by not connecting the television to wifi or Ethernet. Sadly that means you’re also buying the device to plug it into, which is an AppleTV in my case.

bhaney 3y ago
> You can achieve the same effect by not connecting the television to wifi or Ethernet You can hope that you're achieving the same effect, unless the manufacturer has shipped the device with software that will scan for open wireless networks and send its collected data out once it finds a network that allows it Internet access. The TV I got was an Amazon Fire TV, so for all I know the thing is going to some day silently connect to some kind of mesh network built out of the Ring doorbells my neighbors have. Physically removing the networking hardware gives me much better peace of mind, and prevents some well-meaning future house sitter from briefly plugging in an ethernet cable and allowing the device to upload years of collected data or something. > Sadly that means you’re also buying the device to plug it into I don't see what's sad about that. I'd much rather have that functionality be provided by a separate device that I can replace or upgrade without trashing the whole TV. I see other people with smart TVs that are a few years old and half their "apps" no longer work because the technologies used by the services backing them have changed and the TV doesn't support them.
- bradgessler 3y ago
  Its sad for two reasons: 1. Those without the means and who are uninformed have less privacy and 2. It’s a waste of resources to not use the computer built into the TV and have to by another one for the sake of privacy.
  - w-ll 3y ago
    No! It's a waste of resources to include stuff that's quickly outdated and only used to sell our info and serve ads. I dont go as far is desoldering ports, but day 1 everything I can disable is, and they get a device I control in HDMI 1.
  - lyjia 3y ago
    I don't think the second point has any weight when people are shipping miniature computers in literally everything these days. Personally, I don't want these devices using all of their power. The first point is indeed tragic. But I think some of the blame has to fall on the consumer for failing to keep abreast of changes, and for not forcing manufacturers to change their ways. We're super quick to cancel companies for social justice stuff, but not for spying on us?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
rcme 3y ago
These types of devices are increasingly leveraging mesh networks to connect to the internet even if they're aren't explicitly connected by the owner. Simply not connecting your device to the internet isn't as reliable as it once was.
- ipython 3y ago
  I keep hearing this but haven’t seen proof of this happening. Curious to see if this is reality yet.
- wiml 3y ago
  Links? This has often been described as the obvious next step for consumer-unfriendly TVs, but I don't know which brands and models to avoid.
- jbm 3y ago
  Is there a documented instance where this happened? I've heard of this but I've never actually seen this in person. A google, ddg, and even a leddit search doesn't bring up anything.
  - judge2020 3y ago
    Haven't seen a TV manufacturer implement it yet, but > , Sidewalk can help simplify new device setup, extend the low-bandwidth working range of devices to help find pets or valuables with Tile trackers, and help devices stay online even if they are outside the range of their home wifi. https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Sidewalk/b?ie=UTF8&node=21328123011 https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Sidewalk/b?ie=UTF8&node=213281...
    - ianburrell 3y ago
      Amazon Sidewalk uses BLE for short distances and LoRa for long distances. LoRa is seriously low bandwidth. The highest is 50 kb/s and that is for the shortest range and all users. BLE is higher bandwidth but requires having an Amazon device as gateway.

You can achieve the same effect by not connecting the television to wifi or Ethernet. Sadly that means you’re also buying the device to plug it into, which is an AppleTV in my case.

bhaney 3y ago

> You can achieve the same effect by not connecting the television to wifi or Ethernet You can hope that you're achieving the same effect, unless the manufacturer has shipped the device with software that will scan for open wireless networks and send its collected data out once it finds a network that allows it Internet access. The TV I got was an Amazon Fire TV, so for all I know the thing is going to some day silently connect to some kind of mesh network built out of the Ring doorbells my neighbors have. Physically removing the networking hardware gives me much better peace of mind, and prevents some well-meaning future house sitter from briefly plugging in an ethernet cable and allowing the device to upload years of collected data or something. > Sadly that means you’re also buying the device to plug it into I don't see what's sad about that. I'd much rather have that functionality be provided by a separate device that I can replace or upgrade without trashing the whole TV. I see other people with smart TVs that are a few years old and half their "apps" no longer work because the technologies used by the services backing them have changed and the TV doesn't support them.

bradgessler 3y ago
Its sad for two reasons: 1. Those without the means and who are uninformed have less privacy and 2. It’s a waste of resources to not use the computer built into the TV and have to by another one for the sake of privacy.
- w-ll 3y ago
  No! It's a waste of resources to include stuff that's quickly outdated and only used to sell our info and serve ads. I dont go as far is desoldering ports, but day 1 everything I can disable is, and they get a device I control in HDMI 1.
- lyjia 3y ago
  I don't think the second point has any weight when people are shipping miniature computers in literally everything these days. Personally, I don't want these devices using all of their power. The first point is indeed tragic. But I think some of the blame has to fall on the consumer for failing to keep abreast of changes, and for not forcing manufacturers to change their ways. We're super quick to cancel companies for social justice stuff, but not for spying on us?
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

rcme 3y ago

These types of devices are increasingly leveraging mesh networks to connect to the internet even if they're aren't explicitly connected by the owner. Simply not connecting your device to the internet isn't as reliable as it once was.

ipython 3y ago
I keep hearing this but haven’t seen proof of this happening. Curious to see if this is reality yet.
wiml 3y ago
Links? This has often been described as the obvious next step for consumer-unfriendly TVs, but I don't know which brands and models to avoid.
jbm 3y ago
Is there a documented instance where this happened? I've heard of this but I've never actually seen this in person. A google, ddg, and even a leddit search doesn't bring up anything.
- judge2020 3y ago
  Haven't seen a TV manufacturer implement it yet, but > , Sidewalk can help simplify new device setup, extend the low-bandwidth working range of devices to help find pets or valuables with Tile trackers, and help devices stay online even if they are outside the range of their home wifi. https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Sidewalk/b?ie=UTF8&node=21328123011 https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Sidewalk/b?ie=UTF8&node=213281...
  - ianburrell 3y ago
    Amazon Sidewalk uses BLE for short distances and LoRa for long distances. LoRa is seriously low bandwidth. The highest is 50 kb/s and that is for the shortest range and all users. BLE is higher bandwidth but requires having an Amazon device as gateway.