This report indicates there could be a security breach if a laptop uses a smart TV as a monitor:
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If you do, donât put the TV on your network. Donât connect Ethernet. Donât configure Wi-Fi. And if the TV wonât let you use it without doing that, return it to the store and buy something else.
If they have no way to transmit their content, the danger will be minimal.
I suppose you could connect Ethernet long enough to get it up and running and then disconnect it again. Assuming it doesnât decide to brick itself the way many software apps do (Iâm looking at you, Adobe Photoshop Elements - which requires an active login even though it doesnât require a paid subscription).
Sadly, it doesnât appear to be possible to buy a âdumbâ TV anymore. Just give me a few HDMI inputs, maybe one or two analog video inputs and antenna input and nothing else. Thatâs all I care about, because Iâm streaming my content from an Apple TV. And dumb TVs donât take several minutes to boot up when you turn them on.
I could use a computer monitor, but they donât come in really large sizes (e.g. 65") and they donât generally include speakers. My home theater room has a receiver and speakers, but I donât have that set up in other rooms.
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I donât want to create a New Scientist account to read the whole article, but from web searching seems to have found the research paper it is based on:
Yes - I use a 32" LG monitor with my Macbook Air. Much better than a smart TV and it connects to the MBA with a single USB-c cable that provides power, video and access to an external hard drive that is connected to the USB port on the monitor. The monitor speakers are OK but this is not my main media setup.
I reluctantly replaced a dumb TV with a Hisense smart TV for use with my Apple TV 4K. I managed to set it up without connecting the TV to the internet. Annoyingly I now have make sure the ATV is awake before manually turning the TV on or it loses the video signal (i.e. blank screen). At least it remembers that the input is HDMI and doesnât go through the smart TV boot up each time!
The ATV is unable to turn the TV on automatically (maybe because I have an HDMI splitter for sending output to the TV and/or a projector).
Update 2026: I replaced the HDMI cable and the ATV and TV now talk to one another.
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The New Scientist article is available on Apple News+. If articles require subscriptions, you can always go to the share icon in Safari and select âOpen in Apple Newsâ. Another trick to try for articles that require subscriptions is to open them in Reader mode. It didnât work here, but Iâve had it work in other cases.
Concerning stopping tracking and ACR, several articles on the internet discuss how to do it for common TV brands. The article below has that information at its end:
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For the record, Amazon Fire TVs (TCL brand) canât be used at all until you connect them to the Internet. So donât buy one for your cabin in the woods.
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Thatâs a useful article.
The remaining question is⌠if I did have to connect the TV to the internet in order to set it up, would it be snooping on my Apple TV usage via the HDMI cable? That is, does it snoop in the background, irrespective of the input? My guess is that it wouldnât as the TVâs OS is not active.
In terms of Amazon Fire TV by TCL, the Amazon software is still running and active in the background even when youâve switched to the Apple TV HDMI input. This is evidenced by the Alexa functions and overlays that are still available.
Yet another reason to not allow your TV to connect to the Internet. One company, Samba, has trackers installed into 24, thatâs rightâŚtwenty four, brands of TVs and transmits data to pretty much every company involved in selling targeted advertising.
(I looked into Samba because it was mentioned in a Bloomberg story that says, âSamba gets its data through chips installed in âtens of millionsâ of smart TVs in the US. It tracks what people are watching and then balances and weights the resulting data to the US Census across age, gender, income, ethnicity and geography.â)
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I hope my current TV lasts a long, long time because I dread the thought of having to shop for a new one now. TBH, I donât even want a television anymore, I just want a 50-60 inch monitor with a single HDMI input, an on/off button, and absolutely nothing else.
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As I speculate above, setting a Smart TV for HDMI input and using an Apple TV device for watching/streaming shows should avoid snooping.
Instead of using the TVâs built-in (insecure?) tuner I use a networked tuner - HDHomerun - to watch free-to-air TV via the Channels app for Apple TV. This also gives me TV on iPads and iPhones that are on the same wifi. My smart TV is never connected to the internet.
I acknowledge that extra hardware needed - an Apple TV & HDHomerun tuner - but it gives peace of mind and, IMHO, better control of entertainment.
Before Apple TV my main media was a retired iMac running EyeTV hardware and Front Row -software that Apple âretiredâ when it introduced the Apple TV and started making real money from streaming services. In fact, that system is still my backup if the tuner/Apple TV are not available.
I donât think using the HDMI input is any protection:
As another example, letâs say I want to watch Hudson Hawk on Blu-ray. I put the disc in the player (or play it from my NAS after ripping it), switch my TV to the right input, and start the film. ACR can hear Bruce Willis and Danny Aielloâs duet of Bing Crosbyâs âSwinging on a Starâ and recognize that Iâm watching Hudson Hawk. The fact that itâs playing from a physical disc, not the internet, wonât stop the ACR on my TV from identifying it.
Does the TV have to be connected to WiFi or Ethernet to use it? Or turning off the internet connection on the TV should prevent this behavior or sending anything anywhere.
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I have heard complaints of certain TVs requiring that you enable internet access in order to get them up & running initially. I donât know if they insist that you leave it on to keep using them, but it wouldnât surprise me.
The TV I currently own (a 2018 Vizio, so pre-WalMart) does not require internet access and has not been online in many years.
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Not when the source is connected to an Audio/Video Receiver (AVR) or Soundbar, which sends only the video to the TV, while the audio is directed to the external speaker system. Since the TV doesnât receive the audio, ACR is useless.
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Are they available abroad maybe? Might be tricky depending on technologies in use etc.
I donât know if over the air tv is still a Thing is the US or useful for any TBTers, but years ago Elgato made an âeyetvâ small usb gadget with antenna and software on the Mac that tuned in over the air tv. I donât think it has any ability to spy on users (on second thought, maybe it could thru its software 
). I have one for the rare occasions I want to watch any tv.
There are also products for satellite and cable reception and transmission over wifi.
Hauppauge is another one, seems mostly focused on Windows.
The more I searched, the more I found. There are a fair number of similar products out there under keywords like âdigital tv tunerâ, âdigital tv dvrâ, âota digital tv computerâ etc.
The LG 32" monitor that I mention above would suit as a dumb TV. It has an HDMI input as well as the USB-c input that I use with my Macbook Air. Of course it needs an Apple TV to view videos, streamed or via Homesharing or HDHomerun.
As I also mention, the EyeTV still works as my free-to-air backup on an iMac - which can Airplay to the Apple TV. It includes a free EPG (in Australia at least) and the ability to schedule (and edit) recordings offline. Fortunately a 64-bit version was released to take it beyond Mojave.
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It does for me. There is no way for packets to get to and from the TV if itâs never connected to the internet.
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I have heard complaints of certain TVs requiring that you enable internet access in order to get them up & running initially. I donât know if they insist that you leave it on to keep using them, but it wouldnât surprise me.
I had to replace my Samsung dumb TV recently. The replacement Samsung âsmartâ TV required a connection for setup. The path of least resistance was to install an app called something like SmartThings. As soon as the TV was set up and functioning, I deleted the app and turned off WAN access for the TV via my Asus router. Itâs now a dumb TV, as far as I can tell, but devices on my LAN can see it.. My TV and internet provider is Spectrum, and although they want to push everyone to their streaming service, they still provide set top boxes, which is what I have. I have no idea what they manage to collect that way.
I helped a friend set up her Samsung Smart TV recently, and I believe she is stuck with the spying, because she has FiOS; the Verizon program guide comes via the Verizon routerâs wifi rather than through a set top box. If there is an easy way around this, Iâd love to know. I did a few searches on using your own router instead of Verizonâs, and it sounded like it would be difficult to use a router other than Verizonâs (for which they of course charge you monthly).
Hereâs a pretty comprehensive guide from Consumer Reports for how to keep smart TVs from spying on you.
Unfortunately, each operating system used has a different set of agreements and switches you need to toggle to do this. By the way, if you use a Google, Roku, or Fire TV streamer, you also need to apply the appropriate settings to them.
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