Does anyone got any television recommendations for dumb tv’s or other words none smart tv’s? Or even a tv that is smart but the software is open sourced making it privacy friendly?

64 points

TV’s have become privacy nightmares in recent days.

One option would be any TV that works then simply keep it offline and stream from a device that allows you to have more control over your privacy.

If you’re wanting to actually use a smart TV’s functions, I think NextDNS can be set up to block most of the telemetry on whichever smart TV you have.

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33 points

Yep, my TV is the chattiest device on my network according to PiHole. Blocked all the telemetry and it still works fine.

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9 points

This is definitely the simplest approach, as you will be able to use any TV you come across.

As for a streaming device, some form of HTPC is likely to give you the best control over your digital privacy.

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2 points

Not any TV. You can’t just use PiHole and similar if the TV uses DNS over TLS or HTTPS

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17 points

get any tv and dont hook it to the net. use a device like a nvidia shield, a game console or something similar if you want streaming apps

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3 points

You think consoles don’t track you? Also they are extremely wasteful when it comes to power consumption. Better just get a tiny streaming stick or a smart tv.

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4 points

Have you considered that you can play videogames on them?

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1 point

Yes, but we are discussing streaming here. I also have several consoles and I play on them but for streaming they’re a really bad (expensive) option for the reason I mentioned: electricity.

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1 point

Not everyone plays games or has time for it.

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0 points

use a device like a nvidia shield, a game console or something similar

use a device like a nvidia shield, a game console or something similar

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2 points

Tgey can still connect to open networks in your area and send data, I personally disconnected the wifi&bluetooth chip from mine

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17 points

Dumb TVs have gotten hard to find these days. Your options are to either avoid connecting the tv to the internet, or to get digital signage display (but they are pricier).

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7 points

or a monitor i guess

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1 point

Yeah, but monitors don’t typically have a remote control or TV tuner embedded. But if that’s not an issue, sure, a monitor would work.

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16 points

I asked this question a year ago, and was advised to buy a TV and never connect it to my network. That worked fine for me… But, one person told me they bought a TV that would not function until it was connected to their network to run “updates” so he took it back to the store and got a replacement. The replacement did the same thing so he took that back too. (I think he eventually got one that just “worked” out of the box without requiring an update just to work.

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2 points

Till they release the next update. Why even support a brand like that.

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7 points

I mean the TV won’t know they’ve released a new update if you never connect it to the net.

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1 point

I wanted a cheap TV. To me it’s just a display. It’s been over a year and it’s never been connected to the Internet and it’s never bugged me about it.

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15 points

You’re looking for a computer monitor or a commercial display. Both should be free of all the “smart” features.

The downside is that both are far more expensive comparatively.

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6 points

Warning, computer monitors tend to be missing speakers. I’ve made this mistake

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3 points

you can get somewhat decent usb speakers for like 20 bucks though

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