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How much proof is there that smart tvs and phones listen to you? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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Like, we all know they're listening , but can we provide proof?

My friend was complaining about all the new super surveillance that will be government required in cars after 2027, and I said to him dude you have a stock android, you use every AI slop feature, you use a smart TV on your unsecured network, and uses x every day. They have everything they could possibly need on him. Oh and he posts questionable things to fb daily under his real name.

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[–] 3 points 7 months ago (6 children)

Snowden says he does the same thing.

Technically you can do the same for your TV since the mic is probably in the remote. But that's not the TVs worst threat. The constant snapshots of your screen no matter what is displayed is the bigger deal. That is a software issue and not being disconnected without an entire custom firmware/OS approach.

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  • [–] -1 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    Where do you get this information that the microphone is in the remote? That's about the dumbest shit I've heard all year, unless your remote is now Bluetooth or something.

    Infrared remotes are output light flashes only, and only work when you point them in the general direction of the television.

    Now if I'm mistaken about the most modern 'smart' televisions, well just let me know, with reference. Because I'm an infrared hacker, and Hisense and Roku televisions still give to my infrared hacks, output signals only.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    Umm, because my Hisense remote has the mic button and a little hole for the mic to collect sound. Which makes sense when a person wants to speak and be heard and have the mic a foot from their mouth vs 6 feet across the room. But I guess your TV is different and listens with infrared.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago*

    Now that it's daylight and I'm fully awake, I just verified, that neither our Hisense/Roku TV nor our separate Roku dongle have any microphone in their respective remotes, verified by disassembly, and I disassembled the dongle and verified the dongle doesn't have any microphone either.

    Whether the TV itself has any microphone or not, I'm not quite sure, and I'm not about to disassemble that to find out, nor do I care as that TV will never be connected online.

    But I can 100% confirm that neither of our Roku remotes have a microphone or microphone button.

    Guess what? It might be the year 2026, but our TV was manufactured in 2022, and the Roku dongle was manufactured in 2019, so the microphone thing must be a newer feature in recent years.

    Thanks for the heads up, I'll never purchase any new Roku device again.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    Umm, then we must have a pre-spyware HiSense/Roku, no microphones to be found here, none that I know of anyways.

    Also, no WiFi connection either, so..

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