Comment by drnick1

6 days ago

As long as the firmware is proprietary and cannot be inspected or modified, the only reliable way to avoid snooping by tech industry is not to connect any "smart" device to the Internet. Use the TV as a dumb monitor for a PC under your control (running Linux). If streaming service X will not run on Linux because DRM is not implemented or enforceable on a free device, do without it, or find alternative sources for the content (hint: Linux ISOs).

19 comments

drnick1

Reply
jvanderbot  6 days ago

You say "only", but if it is illegal, optional, and can be detected freely, it is very likely to not happen. For all the snark one can muster about DOJ, with those three things in place, it could get expensive very quickly to try to circumvent the law.

irl_zebra  6 days ago

I've been using my pi-hole as my DNS and then also firewall blocking the TV from phoning out on port 53 in case the manufacturer has hardcoded DNS. Though I agree with the point and I shouldn't have to do this. This is just mitigation.

  • gruez  6 days ago

    >and then also firewall blocking the TV from phoning out on port 53 in case the manufacturer has hardcoded DNS

    I'm surprised they haven't switched to using DoH, which would prevent this from working.

    • hunter2_  6 days ago

      It wouldn't even need to use any sort of standards-based DNS-like thing at all, if they control the server (on a stable IP address in the TV's firmware) and the client (the TV). It could be any data scheme (probably https for simplicity and blending in) along the lines of "give me all the other IP addresses I'll need, which aren't as stable as the one in my firmware."

      Regardless, what is the benefit of putting the TV on the network but preventing it from doing DNS lookups anyway, even if you could be sure you succeed?

  • username135  6 days ago

    At the very least, i would assume the majority of folks here were pi-holing devices on their network.

peterhadlaw  6 days ago

What about cheap cellular modems built in?

  • drnick1  6 days ago

    Is there any evidence those exist in TVs and other home appliances?

    Modern cars have cellular modems, I unplugged mine, and would not hesitate to take apart a TV and physically rip off the modem.

    • bluGill  6 days ago

      Maybe not yet - but 5g was built with the idea of making them cheap. It takes a couple years to design the cheap modems and then a few more years to get them in TVs, so they could well be coming in the near future yet - only time will tell. And the modem will also be your wifi so you can't really rip it off without losing other useful things.

      9 replies →