At this point I don't think any Samsung TVs have cellular connections built in. So just stay away from the 'smart' features. I recently bought a 70" Samsung "smart" TV but the only interaction we have with it is to switch to the Apple TV input. The TV has no network configuration, and it never will.

How do you know it's not using open wifi networks?

I don't. There aren't any open wifi networks anywhere near my home, though. I assume if it did that someone would have noticed by now. That's a naive assumption, but given how many people actually look for such behavior, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

It could still store the data on the device. Then in the future, a companies like google could drive around with an open wifi network on their street view cars and charge TV manufacturers for gathering the data. Or drones with open wifi could be deployed.

he's not saying don't buy that fancy tv. just use a roku/appleTV/etc.

although those devices might also have their own privacy issues. :/ best of the bunch i guess?

From the article:

> Roku is hard at work turning its TV platform into a "next-generation ad platform" [0] while Amazon has been showing ads on FireTV devices for years. Most of these platforms have also been confirmed to use ACR, just like Samsung.

https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=...)

Apple TV seems to be the only reasonable option at this point.

I'm going to stick to my existing method of shipping USB sticks to the TV I think.

oh and don't plug the network jack in on the tv.