11 mo. ago • 97%

Your Smart TV Knows What You’re Watching

themarkup.org Your Smart TV Knows What You’re Watching – The Markup

Here’s how to turn off “automated content recognition,” the Shazam-like software on smart TVs that tracks what you’re watching

These TVs can capture and identify 7,200 images per hour, or approximately two every second. The data is then used for content recommendations and ad targeting, which is a huge business; advertisers spent an estimated $18.6 billion on smart TV ads in 2022, according to market research firm eMarketer.

109

109 comments

Obviously

85
... but it isn't able to tell anyone, as it is not connected to the Internet. Poor smart TV.

58
Purchase the nicest screen you can and then hook it up to a HTPC.

You can get a Beelink mini PC for $150-$700. I have a quad core Celeron gen 11 that can handle up to QHD/2K H264/5 video fine, but stutters on 4k. I bought it ($159) knowing that because power draw is my main concern (offgrid/batteries).

When I have an Internet connection I use Jdownloader for YouTube, and Sonaar / Couch Potato / Headphones / SabNZB for everything else.

Rounding that out is a Cable capable USB HDTV card that I use for local OTA TV.

I'm running LibreELEC with some customizations I've done for my personal workflow.

Can't recommend it enough. Fuck the marketing predators that lurk in what you 'own'.

37
I'm pretty sure my Android TV powered by Google™ knows more than what I'm watching. It could probably give me therapy if I threw a LLM on there.

Good to know I'm not paranoid enough tho.

34
My two smart TV’s are the most blocked devices by my network’s pihole. It’s not even close.

The first two are my two TVs, (one is a Samsung, the other is a Roku,) and the third is my phone that I’ve been doomscrolling on all day. The “better” TV has almost 3x as many blocked requests as my phone, even though I only used my TV for about an hour today.

32
I have my old (stupid) tv from like 2013, works perfectly fine. No apps, no firmware, no ads, no tracking. Never felt the need to buy a smart tv, but I'm afraid it'd be near impossible to find a new one that isn't nowadays I'd mine broke down.

28
"Are you watching the TV, or is the TV watching you?"

19
Good. Have fun uploading any information about me without wifi or an ethernet cable. Smart TVs were a mistake, even the most expensive ones are slow and trash.

18
laughs in crtv and dvd player

18
It'll never tell anyone because it'll never be hooked up to the internet.

17
So... Can someone explain how this is legal if you're watching DRM content? Capturing and uploading copyrighted, protected content doesn't seem very kosher.

advertisers spent an estimated $18.6 billion on smart TV ads

Jesus. Spend a fraction of that developing good products that people will actually want to buy so you can end this unethical, scumbag way of making a buck.

17
My smart TV is blocked from the internet. It doesn't know shit.

15
I am so glad I don't have a TV. It's just the Internet with even more ads, minus the Internet.

14
surprisedpikachuface.webp

13
Next up: Televisions that don't have off switches and never go to sleep.

11
I leave the TV on all day for the cats, I'm sure they're getting lots of useful data while they sleep in front of MASH reruns

11
NextDNS has a blocklist you can enable to block telemetry for Roku TVs FYI. You can also get a dumb TV or keep your TV offline and have a separate Kodi box for your shows.

10
Mine connects through pihole with all LG domains blocked. I'm not getting any update request, notifications or anything. Just Netflix.

9
just plug a SBC running Kodi/jellyfin/whatever non-proprietary to a regular tv

9
Considering I don't connect it to the internet I'd be surprised if it was doing anything.

9
It says in the article there's a privacy request option if you own a samsung tv. I went ahead and sent a request to not sell my data, although not sure if it's effective since I'm not in CA.

8
Doubtful, since I don't have one.

7
Doesn't mention what circumstances it's tracking your watching habits. If you're watching an obscure movie on DVD, is it still looking at frames? Does it have to be through a streaming service being run on the TV? Does it recognize content being run on modern game consoles? Not a very informative article.

6
on our vizio, from the settings side panel: all settings->admin/privacy->viewing data. turn it off.

6
SmartTV: This customer loves watching Balance of Nature ads

Me: fuck balance of nature I fucking hate those stupid scammy ads!

5
My TV must be very disappointed in me

4
Mine doesn't

2
Is that you Santa?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0PTXttx13E/?igshid=N2ViNmM2MDRjNw==

2
That’s why i don’t connect mine to the internet and I black hole suspicious traffic

2
You could always use a large monitor but the problem with that would be affordablity.

1
That's cool. I just use my shield

0
Who cares? Ad targeting has been around for years, ads on TV aren't any different than what's on YouTube anymore, they're often literally the same ad. I don't need drugs, I don't need cars and I don't need insurance so whatever

-14

You've viewed 109 comments.