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submitted 3 weeks ago by Schwim@lemmy.zip to c/privacy@lemmy.world

My question is: Can you block the IPs it's phoning home to without breaking other TV functions, like OS/app updates, etc? Is there a list of IPs available for smart TVs specifically that keep the fingerprint from being received by the mfg?

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[-] suzucappo@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Some TVs do not give you that option though. Shield or not, I have one that will straight up block 90% of the screen every 10 minutes if it doesn't have a connection.

I would toss it, but it was 250$ and 65" with a decent display. So I used ssh to get into it and install a firewall to block 90% of the TV from access, including the update service. Also have filtering through my network firewall for ad servers, update servers etc.

So now the scan for a connection works, but they aren't getting much of anything in terms of metrics or telemetry or other information from the TV. I also disabled the default launcher and installed a different one on it as well as jellyfin.

I will never buy another TV like that though, it was an absolute pain to get it working. It should be illegal to hinder usage of a TV just because they are being blocked from invading your privacy.

[-] kindenough@kbin.earth 1 points 3 weeks ago

I would have immediatly returned it to the shop, also I wonder what brand. You are the product…certainly for 250 bucks for a 65 inch TV. They really should have given you 250 dollar + TV. Maybe a year of Netflix premium maximus 8K.

[-] suzucappo@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Haha yeah, I agree.

It's a Toshiba 65C350 Fire TV.

I considered returning it but I'm used to tinkering with stuff so I just dealt with it. I won't do that again though lol. Was not one of the more fun things to mess with.

It'd be nice if I could flash it completely to remove all their junk. I mean, the device is running Android of some sort so it's possible but I'm not that invested in trying to figure that out.

this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025
21 points (95.7% liked)

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