PiHole/AdGuard on the network and/or don't connect the tv to the internet.
this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2026
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Privacy
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Rootmy.tv + a good firewall like opensense can help
Also the apps on the store have some how even less privacy protections thenyoue phone.
Half the apps let your TV act as a proxy for botnets. They need residential IPs otherwise sites won't let them in to scrape all the data illegally, or use bots to wrote fake comments or inflate views.
Sucks you can't just get a normal TV anywhere they all have to come with android and are sold at a loss because companies like Netflix pay to get their spyware perm installed into the TV. Literally if you want to buy a decently sized television (not a monitor under 26 inches) you pretty much have to buy a commercial TV that they use in drive throughs,and they cost like 5-10 grand because theres no spyware in it.
I got a Scepter 55" dumb TV for like, 600$ in Nov. 2024
I figured between tarrifs and the orange, shit was gonna get more expensive and less private
Make sure not to ruin a good thing and throw a roku stick on it.
Everybody in this thread: "Instead of that, just do this incredibly complex techy thing and build up your own library with multiple PBs of stolen media"
I'd love to ditch my Roku stick (already unplugged LG tv from internet). I use plex for some stuff...
I probably will set up a raspberry pi but most people cannot do this
EDIT: just set up LibreELEC and tried a few streams ... this sucks lol.
STOP FUCKING BUYING THEM. YOU DONT NEED A GODDAMN TV.
And if you're really that addicted, look up industrial/ commercial monitors instead.
Y'all are too fucking addicted to media.
Dude I just go with what would maybe be considered “old school” at this point. I never connect WiFi to my tv and just use an hdmi to my laptop running Linux if I want to watch tv (using a piracy streaming site with uBlock and a vpn)
I use mine only for beat saber and only when i have friends over. But yeah I've never connected it to the internet
Or just don't connect them to the internet, I'd love commercial monitors but need the subsidies (monitors are way more expensive).
The difficulty I have with my Samsung TV' is that the content from netflix looks much better on the netflix app on the TV than say using netflix on a fire stick or anything else
I think it comes down to the hdr10+ stuff, but it is noticeably different
It could be picture settings. Make sure the Fire stick's HDR is set to adaptive (it defaults to always on which looks horrible), and on the TV itself the power saving is turned off.
Ah I was using an example, the device I have from my TV provider doesn't do hdr10+
I can't watch live sport without the device so effectively I use that for live TV stuff and the TV itself for app based stuff (netflix, Disney, apple etc etc)
My 6yo was falling down into youtube rabbit holes of total brainrot. And then netflix started offering similar content.
I cancelled all my subscriptions, run jellyfin, ytdl-sub, and other required stuff[tm], my TVs don't have internet access any more. Just jellyfin access. Reading this validates my decision for me.
That is a huge issue too, and even evil people make fucked up videos on YouTube kids.
The correct answer is VLAN/MAC jail or no connection.
Even DNS blocks won't stop persistent tracking which often has fallback IPs.
Isolate it and only allow the domains you need.
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Better solution: do not buy such defective products.
Its the only sane thing to do.
Oh, come on, just don't connect it to the Internet = problem solved. HDMI cables all the way!
Don't some roku TVs require a connection now.
Don’t buy things from scumbags.
I am told the smartannoyances start nagging, and some eventually refuse to work without OTA upgrades.
So, no, the first step is: do not buy these.
Oh. Well, mine is, like, 10 years old, so I guess that explains it.
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