Samsung TVs (and probably others) will connect to other Samsung TVs in range and exfiltrate data via that route… merely not connecting the TV doesn’t present data harvesting
replyIirc, Amazon uses a tool they call “sidewalk” for this purpose
>Samsung TVs (and probably others) will connect to other Samsung TVs in range and exfiltrate data via that route
replyDo you have a source for this? Because the implication is that my Samsung TV will connect to my neighbours Samsung TV, and send my PII through their network without my consent, which would be a huge deal in Europe.
They don’t do that. Do you have a source?
replyThere’s something called Wi-Fi Direct but it requires explicit pairing. And Sidewalk isn’t on TVs. There’s no evidence of Samsung TVs trying to use each other as relays.
In that case, jailbreak it, or open it and unsolder the wifi antenna, or put some well placed copper tape until you no longer see any wifi traffic from the TV from other wifi capable devices running a wifi packet inspector.
replyThe TV belongs to you and it will obey you with modest effort.
Alternatively, don't give your money to e-waste vendors.
replySure when the choice exists, but we should encourage de-fanging the hardware that is already purchased.
replyI want to know how to disable their external communication via wifi, I'd like to see how they are exfiltrating info. If I don't connect them to my wifi, apparently they connect to Xfinity wifi at your neighbors house.
replyBasically don’t buy Samsung or LG if you really care.
replyBut that's the OP's question isn't it? What brand can you buy that isn't outright evil?
replyEspecially considering some models now refuse to work without seeing an internet connection during the setup procedure
Sony has treated me well and I don’t have it internet connected. It’s the one brand I haven’t seen nag when you have the internet disconnected. Was also easy to just opt right out of connecting it. Pretty standard google tv too.
replyBetter hope that no guest connects the TV to their phone hotspot to watch their Netflix like one user in a previous post reported happened to them.
replyOr use something Kodi as the OS and just have a TV like interface. You can also run a Jellyfin client on linux or with Kodi and have that as a reasonable interface for the TV too.
replyYes. Or you can do the same thing with a regular monitor that has no wifi capabilities at all. Some are quite large, good quality and good price.
replyLG’s monitors were caught installing adware on Windows computers recently…
replyThrough an HDMI connection?
replyThrough Windows automatic driver downloads.
replyThe problem here is Microsoft as much as LG. The same monitor on Linux wouldn't download anything. This would require root anyway.
replyDid this for years when I was single living in a tiny room. Nothing wrong with this either!
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