this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2025
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Your TV Is Spying On You (www.ludlowinstitute.org)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by Pro@programming.dev to c/technology@lemmy.world
 

You sit down to relax, put on your favorite show, and settle in for a night of binge-watching. But while you’re watching your TV… your TV is watching you.

Smart TVs take constant snapshots of everything you watch. Sometimes hundreds of snapshots a second.

Welcome to the future of "entertainment."

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[–] AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world 143 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It's almost like we should have strong data privacy laws so companies can't spy on everything we do...

[–] FinalRemix@lemmy.world 35 points 1 week ago

But think of the corporations! Why isn't anyone thinking of the poor withering corporations?!

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[–] shiroininja@lemmy.world 78 points 1 week ago (8 children)

So does your isp, and uses that for targeted ads. My pihole is constantly blocking a domain ran by xfinity that collects data for their targeted ad service

[–] Lojcs@lemm.ee 29 points 1 week ago

I don't think those two facts are related? Your isp doesn't need to connect to its servers from within your local network to track your internet usage. Something else in your network must be trying to connect to that domain

[–] plantsmakemehappy@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (6 children)

What domain do I can make sure it's blocked?

[–] shiroininja@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] plantsmakemehappy@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

Thanks, looks like it's on the Stevenblack list.

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[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I've really gotta look into pihole.

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[–] Nima@leminal.space 55 points 1 week ago (1 children)

oh I disabled my "smart" TV's ability to connect to the internet. its a dumb TV now.

it made the mistake of showing me a banner ad while I was gaming. so I promptly cut its balls off in retaliation.

[–] MyPornViewingAccount@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You can run pihole on Ubuntu.

Point all your network traffic on it and you can still use your TV without your tv using you.

[–] lemmylommy@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

You probably can use your tv without it using you, or probably not.

I, too, use pihole. But it does not prevent your data from leaking 100% and never will. And it’s easily circumvented by using other DNS servers or even by connecting to hardcoded IPs. I dont know specifically about TVs, but some manufacturers do that.

The only way to make sure that TV can never spy is to never connect it to the internet.

[–] nonentity@sh.itjust.works 40 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I’ve never allowed my TV to have an active route to the internet since I bought it in 2019, it’s exclusively fed over HDMI by gaming consoles and an Apple TV.

The thing is, HDMI 1.4 added HEC, so what’s to prevent media players from serving as an Ethernet switch and providing an internet connection to TVs.

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[–] SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 37 points 1 week ago (8 children)

No, it's not. It has not connected to the internet.

[–] CriticalMiss@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Some TVs will sneakily connect to open APs to try and phone home. It is nasty but it does happen. You can only be worry free if you yank out the radio module. Some TVs make it easier than others (My LG TV made it as easy as opening the back of the TV and disconnecting, YMMV)

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[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago (11 children)

YOUR tv is spying on you. MY tv has no smart capability.

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[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 25 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

It doesn't if you don't connect it to the internet. Fortunately most smart TVs still have HDMI inputs so you can use them as dumb TVs with a PC.

[–] kescusay@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

Yep. My TV has not and never will be on the Internet in any way. I picked it for its screen quality, and the fact that it also has "smart" components never even entered into the decision. Because those smart components will literally never do anything.

[–] captainastronaut@seattlelunarsociety.org 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Stupid TVs FTW. If you can’t buy them stupid, give them a WiFi lobotomy.

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[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

no it isn't. yours might be, but not mine.

[–] tatterdemalion@programming.dev 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Does anyone know if there's a domain blocklist for smart TV telemetry? If so, I could easily put it into my DNS server, like I already do for ads.

I'd like to continue using my streaming apps without resorting to yet another device. I have an HTPC that runs KODI but I think it'd be a pain to replace all of my streaming apps.

[–] flightyhobler@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

Turn the TV on and keep an eye on the logs. Many of the common blocklist already block that kind of telemetry.

[–] laserlizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

A couple I'm aware of:

But like flightyhobler suggested, if you keep an eye on your DNS logs with Pi-hole or managed services like AdGuard DNS and NextDNS you'll get a better idea of what's still getting through.

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[–] TipRing@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (5 children)

My ACL says my TV can't talk to the internet.

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[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In other news, water found to be wet, puppies cute. More at 11.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Do you have pictures of these puppies? We need confirmation.

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[–] atlien51@lemm.ee 16 points 1 week ago (6 children)

What 4K TV can I buy that doesn’t do this guys help? Or should I stick to monitors???

[–] pool_spray_098@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago (8 children)

I mean... Just don't hook the TV up to the internet. Don't join your WiFi network on the TV.

Kind of a simple solution.

[–] atlien51@lemm.ee 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

No it’s not! I had a goddamn Sony tv and it wouldn’t let me change certain settings unless I connected it to the internet! They try to force your hand!

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[–] winkerjadams@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 week ago

Until the cost of a sim card w/service is less than the revenue they generate from it. Which I fear is scarily close.

Doesn't work anymore. They do dark mesh networks.

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[–] Manalith@midwest.social 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sceptre still makes TVs that are just that, no underlying smart OS

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[–] DFX4509B_2@lemmy.org 16 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Mine ain't, I'm using an ancient dumb TV.

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[–] bstix@feddit.dk 15 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Sometimes hundreds of snapshots a second.

That's a pretty neat FPS for a tv.

[–] camelbeard@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

The article states that's what the privacy policy sais samsung can sample every 500ms and LG every 10ms. It doesn't really mean they are, but it's definitely possible. A very basic way of detecting content is to take a 1000 pixels evenly spaced out over the screen and store the color values. That gives you something you can match against a database. You don't need to process a 4K screenshot for this.

[–] beveradb@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Yeah I'm calling bullshit on that quote, I'd like to see proof of any smart TV having beefy enough hardware to record anything at 100fps+, and even then what would be the point? Nothing played back on the screen will even have a frame rate and 60fps... I'm sure this is a lazy article mistake

EDIT: I take it back, I talked it out with Gemini and understand the logic and realistic implementation now, it's a dedicated part of the SoC design. Still hate the fact that this is a thing, we just need to spread the word about not connecting your actual TV to the internet at all ever.

https://g.co/gemini/share/e37d7882d427

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[–] f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 week ago

The company that made my TV is engaged in copyright infringement, you say? Transmitting copyrighted images over the Internet for profit?

Huh.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Jokes on them: I watch videos on my tablet. There’s no way that’s spying on me, right? Right?

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[–] lemmylommy@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

Hundreds of snapshots a second? So my tv has at least 200 Hz? Or do they snap the same frame multiple times just for fun?

[–] FG_3479@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The built-in OS on smart TVs almost always sucks. The built-in OS on our LG is slower, has less apps, and has less support for HDR and higher resolutions than our Fire stick.

Just don't use it and instead plug in a Fire stick, turn off its tracking, then sideload apps like BeeTV and HDO Box.

I know Amazon has a bad rep from a privacy standpoint but the Fire stick is super cheap compared to its competition and lets you turn off the tracking in one page of the settings menu.

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[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I guess I'll stick with my 2012 Toshiba 55" dumb TV.

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[–] JTskulk@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (3 children)

My TV is not a smart TV, it's not spying on me.

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[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

No it’s not.

Still got an old Panasonic plasma from 2010 and it’s going strong.

But I am aware of the “wonders” of post-purchase monetization, which is how they’re printing out so many of these cutting edge OLED big screens for surprisingly low initial purchase prices

[–] JustARegularNerd@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Part of the reason why I take good care of my little 24" dumb TV. It's on the lower end (poor viewing angles, absolutely no adjustment on the legs) but I still have a use for it, so I won't be replacing it.

The other concern I have with smart TVs is because manufacturers basically install a smartphone SoC, the TV's lifecycle is now the same as a smartphone. Most people probably won't connect a new smart TV box to their discontinued, laggy (thanks to bloated apps) smart TV, the completely functional unit just gets replaced.

We need regulation to be able to unlock these devices and make available the firmware drivers so that after the manufacturer stops support, the community can continue it (and obviously for us hackers, we would strip the system of all telemetry)

[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

I just don’t own a tv. Getting rid of my entertainment and gaming systems and most of social media was my answer to internal peace. I don’t have streaming either.

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