Re:How to break free from smart TV ads and tracking
by pxc on Saturday December 13, 2025 @09:53AM
(#46254924)
Can you actually replace the firmware with an open-source, privacy-respecting one? If you're still left running all the same proprietary background "services" and telemetry, I don't see how this kind of hack relates to any of the reasons for preferring a dumb TV.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:How to break free from smart TV ads and tracking
by bee_rider on Saturday December 13, 2025 @10:53AM
(#46255437)
Agreed.
This “proprietary telemetry” is basically malware, just, it was put on the thing at the factory. Once a system is fully rooted by malware, the least-bad option is to nuke it entirely and install from scratch.
In this context where the locked-down device probably also doesn’t have a fully open source kernel and drivers, this becomes a bit tricky. Better just to use a device that doesn’t have malware on it in the first place.