My question is: Can you block the IPs it’s phoning home to without breaking other TV functions, like OS/app updates, etc? Is there a list of IPs available for smart TVs specifically that keep the fingerprint from being received by the mfg?
I disconnected my smart tv from WiFi and just use my own home network. By setting up a static ip address on both my tv and media server through the eXXXX device, and connecting the two via Ethernet cable, I can access any media I have saved on the server from the tv with little to no lag. This allows the tv to continue being “smart” to some extent, but only with the addresses I specify. It’s also arguably better since Ethernet speeds are usually 100+mbps for me against 2mbps wireless speeds.
Even if there was a list and you could narrow it down you still shouldn’t trust it. You’re just one update away from a slight IP or DNS change and you’d never know because you never come back to check it.
Never use your internal TVs apps. Go buy a $20 android TV stick and deebloat/degoogle it.
If a new feature comes out that you can’t live without, buy a different stick. It’s the one part of the equation you can actually upgrade
This may be cringe, but consider using an Apple TV box, every time I download a new app. It gives me the option to tell itnot to track.
This is good start.
Though it is kind of the technology equivalent of “asking nicely”.
I prefer GrapheneOS where my choice is enforced by the OS, rather than passed politely on as a request to the app developer.
At least app developers who ignore it may get kicked off the Apple app store - if they are caught.
For what it’s worth, it seems to have been enough to deter Facebook from deploying their latest spyware innovation to iOS.
Leave it offline and use a separate android TV box.
They’re like $25 now. Enjoy using your TV like a computer monitor as intended.
Are there any good options for Android boxes? I just need SmartTube and Emby. Otherwise it’s just going to be a giant screen for my XBox and PS5.
I use an nvidia shield. They’re good
Native Google play store. So you can get any app
I have a Formuler Z11 Max and it’s awesome. Though a little pricier. Also have hooked a couple people up with those 29$ Walmart 4K ONN AndroidTV boxes, that are an extremely good box for the value. I live and die by SmartTube.
Thank you! I’m pretty tech-literate but I am just dipping my toes into this stuff. I’ll look at both of those.
I have SmartTube on my TV and NewPipe on my phone. I can’t imagine life without them.
There’s no need. This is a very simple fix. Block your TV from the internet using your router. Then plug in a $20 Google TV box or Apple TV. Problem solved.
There’s no need. This is a very simple fix. Block your TV from the internet using your router.
Exactly.
Then plug in a $20 Google TV box or Apple TV. Problem solved.
“Sometimes, when I have a problem - I throw a molitov cocktail. Then pretty soon, I have a completely different problem!” - Jason, The Good Place
(Referring to blocking Samsung’s telemety, by embracing Google’s or Apple’s. Honestly, I trust Apple the most of the three, but I don’t thrive inside a walled garden, myself.)
The difference is, if the TV box does something I don’t like, I can unplug it and plug something else in. If the TV does something you don’t like, theres nothing you can do to stop it.
Case in point, Roku’s forced arbitration nonsense. If your TV was disconnected, there’s no way they can force any changes at all on you.
Agreed. It’s definitely an improvement.
Some TVs have been found to continually scan for open wifi networks to connect to in order to ship back the telemetry they gather.
Do you happen to have a source for this claim? I did some cursory searches on this just now and found nothing except for one reddit thread where one person said the same thing but again with no source.
I would also love a source. I keep seeing the claim made over and over. It’s certainly plausible, and should be easily provable.
I read it originally from a poster on a privacy/security reddit who was reporting their personal experiences. It isn’t the most reliable source but in this context I consider it worth accounting for anyway, as what the person described experiencing is both possible and plausible. For anyone who is serious about preventing these sort of privacy breaches, the open wifi vector should absolutely be considered and guarded against if possible (easy but less comprehensive approach would be to see if there is an airplane mode on TV, harder but more reliable is to physically disable or shield the wifi module on the TV itself).
Who has unsecured networks anymore?
Public Wi-Fi hotspots are typically unsecured, and if you happen to live in a city that has a lot of Wi-Fi hotspots, it could hop onto one of those networks.
I never enable the smart part. You want the smart part on a TV you are going to enable telemetry even if hou declined privacy agreements. I don’t trust any TV manufacturer, for sure not LG.
I use a seperate setupbox (Shields) that I can control with a pihole. So all my other input sources like my gaming PC’s, or the ones I use for tax and insurance do not get monitored by content recognition from the tv or Google. My LG oled’s work fine without updates.
It will be easy to detect if a TV is trying to connect to an open network even if you disabled the networking part. Network sniffers… I would throw out that TV in a heartbeat. Mostly hardware that can’t connect to an ip start requesting connection at a frequent rate, like my Nanoleafs blocked by pihole. Very desperate….They are top of the blocked ip’s.
Some TVs do not give you that option though. Shield or not, I have one that will straight up block 90% of the screen every 10 minutes if it doesn’t have a connection.
I would toss it, but it was 250$ and 65" with a decent display. So I used ssh to get into it and install a firewall to block 90% of the TV from access, including the update service. Also have filtering through my network firewall for ad servers, update servers etc.
So now the scan for a connection works, but they aren’t getting much of anything in terms of metrics or telemetry or other information from the TV. I also disabled the default launcher and installed a different one on it as well as jellyfin.
I will never buy another TV like that though, it was an absolute pain to get it working. It should be illegal to hinder usage of a TV just because they are being blocked from invading your privacy.
I would have immediatly returned it to the shop, also I wonder what brand. You are the product…certainly for 250 bucks for a 65 inch TV. They really should have given you 250 dollar + TV. Maybe a year of Netflix premium maximus 8K.
Haha yeah, I agree.
It’s a Toshiba 65C350 Fire TV.
I considered returning it but I’m used to tinkering with stuff so I just dealt with it. I won’t do that again though lol. Was not one of the more fun things to mess with.
It’d be nice if I could flash it completely to remove all their junk. I mean, the device is running Android of some sort so it’s possible but I’m not that invested in trying to figure that out.
Heh, I understand taking up a tinkering challange. Seems there are custom roms that you might be able to flash on a fire tv but there is a chance of bricking it. You need boot menu installed and root access very likely.
Yeah, I did look a little bit and saw that.
If I recall correctly the TV is kind of in this in between update where I was able to get into it and lock it down the way that I want but I can’t get it to give me root access. From what I remember I shouldn’t have even been able to get into it at all but was still able to.
Fun stuff.
I’ll look into it again though since it’s been about a year. Maybe there is something new.
I did not want to enable you, I only did some low effort searches.
Is there a list of IP ranges to block?
0.0.0.0/0I never understood why geeks would own a smart TV. The solution is simple. It’s called a monitor. If you’re fancy you get a projector. Connect that shit to a secure box and be done.
It’s really not that hard. I never understood how people find it so difficult to understand.
Monitors are made to be viewed up close for the most part. And as such they don’t exist in TV sizes. There are a few, but they are super expensive.
Projectors suck. A good projector that gets close to the image quality of a decent TV will cost quite a lot. And the way they work, they don’t always work in every room.
Inb4 digital signage. They suck too. They’re made to be bright screens to be viewed outdoors or in bright large rooms and to be switched on all day. They don’t have image quality comparable to an actual TV because they aren’t made for image quality.
So yeah, if you want a large screen with good image quality to watch stuff on from your sofa 3 meters away, a TV is very very often your only realistic option. And since nobody makes a decent dumb TV anymore, you’re essentially stuck with smart TVs.
I use IDS (interactive digital signage) for my TV in my bedroom, but I have good reasons: I work for the manufacturer, my job involves using it and I work from home, it was free.
Picture quality isn’t incredible, but it’s not bad. SDR 4K LCD, so obviously lacking a bit compared to commercial TVs. But again, free and I needed it in my house for my job so I already had limited options for where to put it.
I would not recommend buying one. They expensive, image quality is substandard, and you can’t actually just buy one individually.
Do they make 75" monitors? I see a few with touch, but those are $3000+.
It looks like NEC used to have a 70" monitor, but it was discontinued.
I’ve ran projectors at 100" for years. Only a few hundred.
I do not have a place to do a projector, if I replace my tv it needs to be another tv or monitor.
Some of the monitors are going smart. I won’t be buying those.
All but one of my TVs is a smart TV, none of them are connected to the internet. I tried with one, it was slow and difficult to use. I use a set top box instead. Even when I was using a 10+ year old Roku it performed better than the TV did.
That used to be my solution, too. Sadly Roku don’t seem to be any better for privacy, anymore.
Jokes on them my tv is a dumb tv and can’t do this. I will go back to tube tv before I buy a smart one.
Most likely it’s calling home using a fqdn. Set up your own DNS, force all your devices to use it (use dnat in your firewall). Then watch which fqdn’s you TV uses and blacklist those. That’s how I do it ( I use technitium DNS)
Sure, that applies when you are tech savvy. The problem comes to all tv sets elsewhere, where people is completely unaware of the issue. There should be an option to fully opt-out of any telemetry, or vendors to open the specs on the tv bootloader so it can be “easily” replaced
Most simply don’t care. Don’t think there is a turn-key solution. Just look up pihole and take it from there.
Again, not an issue for tech savvy people (that cares). Privacy should be available for everybody.
Agreed, yet here we are.
So two choices: accept the call home or fix it yourself and learn something new. There are plenty step by step guides.
Just use a non-smart TV (or even a display panel) with a HTPC. It doesn’t have to be expensive, you can use a fucked up 15 year old laptop that’s had the entire lid ripped off and it’ll be more than good enough for streaming. Trying to work with smart TVs is just polishing a turd.
Find me a dumb tv anywhere near the performance+size+price of a mid-to-high end smart TV right now. I can find some monitors but they’re not well reviewed, not readily available to consumers, not meeting the same specs for e.g. HDR, wide gamut, or otherwise, while being wildly more expensive.
This is not a failure of the consumer. There is no way to vote with your money if you’re looking for a good TV.
I’m decently happy with the oled pc monitor and use it for everything, but the oled refresh pop up is fairly irritating especially since it happens even when set not to bother you and wait for next screen off. the power led changing colour as an indicator of it being time would also be nice.
I use a high end TV from 15 years ago
Not internet connected and it supports HTMI power on
