Judging from the above discussion, it seems to me that “resistance is futile”. And @Sharon is right. If one way or another security can be violated (be it the app, the device or whatever) this makes encryption almost irrelevant. It is so sad indeed.
We try to stay as close to secure practices and Linux devices such as L5, but they have so many tools against people.
I bought a new TV and sometimes it turns on by itself. A few seconds later it returns to off. What is this device doing? I am sure it listens to us and thinks we asked it to turn on maybe? Not sure. If it listens what is the role of say L5? I have to quit the whole current state of the society and return to stamps (which by the way I love).
It depends on whether you are talking about what is or what might be in the future. Right now your open source device is probably not intentionally compromised and noone has banned encryption.
If that’s happening overnight, it may be downloading program information or downloading software updates or both. Some of my AV devices do that - but it’s not quick. It takes a fairly long time. (I guess if it is only checking for software updates and there are no updates to download then it could be quick.)
You could investigate by monitoring the traffic from the TV and/or disabling checking for software updates by the TV (if that is an option on the TV).
Of course, if the TV is running Android TV (/ anything from Google) then you can be fairly sure that it is not working in your interests, without the need to investigate.
Does Samsung still use TV camera and speaker to monitor facial moods when ads run?
I cannot see buying a expensive leash like a Samsung TV. I have a Samsung new Galaxy A8 (gifted). Once I read their privacy policy for my area, I locked it out of the network and turned it off but maybe my idea of Off isn’t the same as Samsung’s Off.
I read their privacy policy
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THE PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY BECAUSE ANYTIME YOU USE OUR WEBSITE, YOU CONSENT TO THE PRACTICES WE DESCRIBE IN THE PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE PRACTICES DESCRIBED IN THE PRIVACY POLICY, YOU SHOULD NOT USE OUR WEBSITE.
I trudged through all their Policy Policy gibberish for my area, and IMO, Samsung is almost as bad as Google, maybe worse.
The privacy policy for my area may be different than your area.
Summed up, we don’t have any rights to privacy if we want to use any of their services.
In a sense, I asked Google “Who are Satan’s helpers” the following search results are in a way funny because they point to demon wannabes like Google, Samsung, Adobe, Microsoft… etcetera.
Satan has sons! He not only has sons, he has servants, ministers, even apostles (II Corinthians 11:13-15). This parable says that Satan has secret agents ! He has spies, moles, and plants right in the church!
and after “church”, I would add, Internet and then it all fits together
For the enjoyment of content, sure, but that doesn’t address either of the needs that I proposed.
My actual answer would be: Run your own DNS server and start to snoop on what domains the TV might be accessing. Then you can decide whether the TV is working against your interests and should be disconnected from the internet.
(It is understood that a malicious TV could intentionally be evasive about its DNS lookups and the internet hosts that it communicates with.)
Particularly if it’s a new TV, there may be warranty issues if you block software updates. (If it’s an older TV then it is out of warranty anyway and it is probably also abandonware.)
1 + 1 = 3 though, by which obscure comment I mean .. 1 piece of private information held about you by Samsung plus 1 piece of private information held about you by Google is worth even more (for Surveillance Capitalism) if Google (or a third party) holds both pieces of information.
In other words, there is still merit in spreading your leashholders around.
I don’t have a Samsung TV but as far as I know for my own (most recent) TV, it has no camera. It does have a microphone for verbal commanding / Surveillance. I have turned that functionality off .. but it should be obvious to everyone that I have no assurance that the microphone is really off … because there is no Hardware Kill Switch (and there are no schematics).
(Verbal commanding, either as legitimate functionality or as Surveillance, typically requires an internet connection. So if you can get away with disconnecting the TV from the internet then you can mostly tame the microphone even if the microphone is still “on” when it is “off”.)
Yup. From memory (too hot here to search it out) it was discovered that Samsung used the camera to monitor facial expressions during ads. Depending on mood detected, expressions would help pick the next ad. I can’t imagine what ads would run with a dysfunctional blended family watching.
I verify that my Samsung TV model has NO camera. Only microphone and this is on the remote control. One can completely get rid of this by throwing this garbage remote to where it belongs (ie garbage) and buy a non-smart remote for Samsung. I have tested the remote from a 15 years old non-smart samsung TV, and it works fine with the new smart model.
Interesting. This prompted me to check my TV more closely.
Turns out that my TV (ostensibly) doesn’t have a microphone at all. To use verbal commanding requires an app to be installed on a smartphone and then the microphone that is used is that of the smartphone and then sounds(?) are transmitted from the smartphone to the manufacturer’s servers in the cloud(!) and somehow the result makes its way back to the TV which then carries out the command.
Needless to say that I do not have any stinking app installed / the whole idea is a non-starter i.e. I assume that no such app will ever be open-sourced for a Linux environment but, even if it were, this is an altogether unappealing architecture for control of the TV. In my opinion of course.
Take it offline and try to have no open WLAN in your neighberhood. Since you can not known if the TV will have a Pixel Camara in its Surface try to have a cleaned sporty Body Shape and of your family as well and do not have a live in front or in the room. Like a Windows Laptop, PC or a Apple or Alphabeth or Meta or Amazon Device in your location. And like if you drive with your E-Car.
Edit: E-Cars are perfect for mobility but they are like public Trains or Underground transportation. Do not trust them.
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