4 ms·

My Samsung TV which I bought 8 years ago now suddenly asks me if it's okay they share data with their over 200 partners. They have the nerves to headline this w

by jtreitz 2mo ago

My Samsung TV which I bought 8 years ago now suddenly asks me if it's okay they share data with their over 200 partners. They have the nerves to headline this with "protect your privacy". Generally not a big fan of EU policing but I wish somebody sued them over this. > Improving Your Experience and Protecting Your Privacy on Samsung TV Plus > Samsung and our 264 partners use information about you and your device in order to provide, analyse and improve the Samsung TV Plus app. This includes the processing of personal data such as unique IDs for personalised advertising.

eckelhesten 2mo ago
If I got a dollar for every person suckered into buying Samsung products… But to stay on topic: never! connect your tv to the internet. My LG has been offline for around 5 years now after automatically installing unwanted apps. Since then, I run everything via an Apple TV 4K which works way better than LGs own software does anyway.
- NetOpWibby 2mo ago
  Exact same setup here. Ideally I'd buy a dumb TV but they don't exist in the modern era.
- brador 2mo ago
  Can a screen/monitor/TV send data back over HDMI through a connected computer or is that a 1 way connection?
  - eckelhesten 2mo ago
    Technically yes, hdmi supports transmitting Ethernet. Realistically no.
- stvltvs 2mo ago
  Putting on tinfoil hat... how do we know it isn't connecting to our neighbors' open WiFi?
  - BenjiWiebe 2mo ago
    Do your neighbors have open Wi-Fi? I'm a country dweller, but when I'm in town I look at the Wi-Fi list (in horror) sometimes, and it's really rare to see an open Wi-Fi network.
    - stvltvs 2mo ago
      Anecdotal but my laptop just found 2 open WiFi networks out of 20. One's enough though.
      - BenjiWiebe 2mo ago
        Are they truly open, or are they captive portals? Of course, it might be possible to exfiltrate data through a captive portal network, depending on how they implement the portal.
  - philistine 2mo ago
    It’s a common fear. People constantly mention it on HN every time the advice to keep a TV off the internet is mentioned. Yet we have never seen proof by anyone, not once, that it has happened. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
  - eckelhesten 2mo ago
    That would be a lawsuit waiting.
deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]
ifh-hn 2mo ago
I threw out a Samsung TV after they kept asking this shit. They'd provided a single button to accept but literally 200+ decline buttons, one for every partner, that I needed to scroll through a click with my remote. Fuck Samsung. Will never buy any Samsung product ever again.
UpsideDownRide 2mo ago
Do you have a better system fix than what EU is trying to do?
- 2muchcoffeeman 2mo ago
  People aren’t rational. They want to have less regulations so there’s more freedom to do what you want and then in the same sentence complain about enshittification.
- Kovah 2mo ago
  There would be a few fixes, if the politics would be interested in actually fixing this loophole. - deny is the default: one button to deny everything but one accept button for every partner - respect DO NOT TRACK, and force software/hardware providers to enable it by default - making payments for non-tracking illegal - remove or rephrase "legitimate interest" ruling, because providers use that as an excuse to enable everything - and probably: prohibit any other dark pattern, or at least make it extremely hard to implement
  - AndroTux 2mo ago
    Respecting Do Not Track is the most important thing here. They absolutely could have forced all browser vendors to implement that feature, and force website owners to honor it. Instead, we got cookie banners.
  - orwin 2mo ago
    > - deny is the default: one button to deny everything but one accept button for every partner Yes, that's in the law. I you do not click on consent, the default is deny everything, and a button to refuse everything should be easy to access. > - making payments for non-tracking illegal In the law too. > - remove or rephrase "legitimate interest" ruling, because providers use that as an excuse to enable everything True, this loophole was introduced by UK/US lobbyists at the time if I remember correctly. My (very small, 3 dev) company at the time worked on health data and managed to find itself in the arcanes of Brussels because anything related to PII security was good news for us. - and probably: prohibit any other dark pattern, or at least make it extremely hard to implement This is the courts who can judge that. The main issue with the gdpr law is local enforcement. It is honestly well written and easy to understand, which is why you have so much legal loopholes, but EU courts are RAI rather than RAW (our fast americanisation is changing that though).
chrisjj 2mo ago
> asks me if it's okay they share data with their over 200 partners. L What happens if you say no?
- rurban 2mo ago
  If you manage to click through all >200 partners to say no, the TV startup will be significantly faster. Like 10x faster. Cutting them off the wire and view through another dongle is easier though
  - chrisjj 2mo ago
    Sounds like we need an app for that clicking. Or maybe an extra smart remote.
    - Henchman21 2mo ago
      How about open source firmware to replace the crap Samsung bundles?
consentkeep 2mo ago
[dead]

by jtreitz 2mo ago

eckelhesten 2mo ago

If I got a dollar for every person suckered into buying Samsung products… But to stay on topic: never! connect your tv to the internet. My LG has been offline for around 5 years now after automatically installing unwanted apps. Since then, I run everything via an Apple TV 4K which works way better than LGs own software does anyway.

NetOpWibby 2mo ago
Exact same setup here. Ideally I'd buy a dumb TV but they don't exist in the modern era.
brador 2mo ago
Can a screen/monitor/TV send data back over HDMI through a connected computer or is that a 1 way connection?
- eckelhesten 2mo ago
  Technically yes, hdmi supports transmitting Ethernet. Realistically no.
stvltvs 2mo ago
Putting on tinfoil hat... how do we know it isn't connecting to our neighbors' open WiFi?
- BenjiWiebe 2mo ago
  Do your neighbors have open Wi-Fi? I'm a country dweller, but when I'm in town I look at the Wi-Fi list (in horror) sometimes, and it's really rare to see an open Wi-Fi network.
  - stvltvs 2mo ago
    Anecdotal but my laptop just found 2 open WiFi networks out of 20. One's enough though.
    - BenjiWiebe 2mo ago
      Are they truly open, or are they captive portals? Of course, it might be possible to exfiltrate data through a captive portal network, depending on how they implement the portal.
- philistine 2mo ago
  It’s a common fear. People constantly mention it on HN every time the advice to keep a TV off the internet is mentioned. Yet we have never seen proof by anyone, not once, that it has happened. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
- eckelhesten 2mo ago
  That would be a lawsuit waiting.

deleted 2mo ago

[deleted]

ifh-hn 2mo ago

I threw out a Samsung TV after they kept asking this shit. They'd provided a single button to accept but literally 200+ decline buttons, one for every partner, that I needed to scroll through a click with my remote. Fuck Samsung. Will never buy any Samsung product ever again.

UpsideDownRide 2mo ago

Do you have a better system fix than what EU is trying to do?

2muchcoffeeman 2mo ago
People aren’t rational. They want to have less regulations so there’s more freedom to do what you want and then in the same sentence complain about enshittification.
Kovah 2mo ago
There would be a few fixes, if the politics would be interested in actually fixing this loophole. - deny is the default: one button to deny everything but one accept button for every partner - respect DO NOT TRACK, and force software/hardware providers to enable it by default - making payments for non-tracking illegal - remove or rephrase "legitimate interest" ruling, because providers use that as an excuse to enable everything - and probably: prohibit any other dark pattern, or at least make it extremely hard to implement
- AndroTux 2mo ago
  Respecting Do Not Track is the most important thing here. They absolutely could have forced all browser vendors to implement that feature, and force website owners to honor it. Instead, we got cookie banners.
- orwin 2mo ago
  > - deny is the default: one button to deny everything but one accept button for every partner Yes, that's in the law. I you do not click on consent, the default is deny everything, and a button to refuse everything should be easy to access. > - making payments for non-tracking illegal In the law too. > - remove or rephrase "legitimate interest" ruling, because providers use that as an excuse to enable everything True, this loophole was introduced by UK/US lobbyists at the time if I remember correctly. My (very small, 3 dev) company at the time worked on health data and managed to find itself in the arcanes of Brussels because anything related to PII security was good news for us. - and probably: prohibit any other dark pattern, or at least make it extremely hard to implement This is the courts who can judge that. The main issue with the gdpr law is local enforcement. It is honestly well written and easy to understand, which is why you have so much legal loopholes, but EU courts are RAI rather than RAW (our fast americanisation is changing that though).

chrisjj 2mo ago

> asks me if it's okay they share data with their over 200 partners. L What happens if you say no?

rurban 2mo ago
If you manage to click through all >200 partners to say no, the TV startup will be significantly faster. Like 10x faster. Cutting them off the wire and view through another dongle is easier though
- chrisjj 2mo ago
  Sounds like we need an app for that clicking. Or maybe an extra smart remote.
  - Henchman21 2mo ago
    How about open source firmware to replace the crap Samsung bundles?

consentkeep 2mo ago

[dead]