I’d like to start a discussion about TV privacy in 2023. I’ve never been interested in having a TV, but recently I was thinking of getting one. Looking into it, the privacy implications seem horrible. All the major brands seem to have cameras, microphones, and content recognition software. I can’t believe how dystopian it is.
I also notice that most of the articles about this are from a few years ago. Are things better now? Do they still collect an Orwellian amount of data?
As I understand it, there are a few mitigation options:
- Leave it disconnected from the internet and use a separate device for streaming. But it sounds like some brands have incessant nag screens, or disable features until connected to the internet. I was looking into the Samsung Frame TV, but I’m not even sure you can use the art mode without internet. Does anyone know?
- Pi-hole set up with a blocklist. It’s disheartening that such a technical solution would be necessary.
- Get a commercial “dumb” display. These are more expensive, and usually thicker.
- Go through the menu and disable privacy violating settings. Does this work? I’m doubtful.
For the moment, I’ve settled with our TV staying disconnected. All the ‘smart’ features are managed by an Nvidia shield Pro with LineageOS.
Any downsides with lineage or all systems functional?
Some apps may complain about the lack of Google if you don’t install Microg. But apart from that, been really happy. This was one of the last parts of my life I was waiting to properly degoogle.
Yeah. In my testing on my Shield 2019 Pro, with Lineage, my biggest problems were:
No Dolby Vision
No AI Upscaling
No App Switcher (Could no longer double press the home button to switch apps)
There were also some other little bugs here and there, but those were my biggest problems with LineageOS over Stock, so I didn’t stick with it. I’m currently just using my Shield on Stock, but with all Google apps and other bloatware and garbage removed through ADB, and while not perfectly ideal, its been a good enough experience, and I think by far the best option currently for a TV box.
Ah great thanks for the response, I’m doing the same, stock with degoogling as much as possible. I end up using upscaling and the app switcher a lot so your reply has been most helpful for me to decide not to try lineage on it right now…