Thats why I use a cheap external box. Doestnt matter whether its firetv, appletv, chromecasr or anything. Unplug the power when u r done watching. Its so easy this way.
I'd assume firetv, appletv, even the PS5 I use to watch streaming services on my TV is doing basically the same thing.
Really? I thought there was some weird hardware requirements (eg. compatible cpu and gpu)[1][2], but otherwise worked fine?
[1] https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 [2] https://help.netflix.com/en/node/55764
See: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/apple-tv-app/
Remember, what companies consider to be "non-personal information" is often extremely personal. It's often trivial to identify an individual based on "anonymized" or "non-identifying" data, and even aggregated data my not be enough to prevent individuals from being identified.
It's not clear what "disabling ACR when Apple services were in use" actually means in practice. I'd guess it means that Apple TV+ content isn't being snooped on directly by anyone except apple, but it's hard to say.
Compare and contrast the Apple TV privacy policy you linked with Roku's, for example: https://docs.roku.com/published/userprivacypolicy/en/us
Quoting from B.1:
We may receive information about the browsers and devices you use to access the Internet, including our services, such as device types and models, unique identifiers including advertising identifiers (e.g., for Roku Devices, the Advertising Identifier associated with that device), MAC address, IP address, operating system type and version, browser type and language, Wi-Fi network name and connection data, and information about other devices connected to the same network. We may also gather the WiFi MAC addresses and broadcast signal strengths of your router and other Wi-Fi routers in your area. For Roku Devices, we may also collect the name of the retailer to whom your Roku Device was shipped, various quality measures, error logs, software version numbers, and device status (including the status of battery-powered accessories). When you enable Bluetooth while using Roku Services, we may collect your Bluetooth usage, such as connection quality, the name of the device connected to your Roku Device, and the start and stop time of your connection.
Quoting from B.3:
If you use the Roku Media Player to view your video or photo files or listen to your music files, Roku will collect data about the files viewed within the Roku Media Player, such as codecs, and other metadata of the local files you play through the Roku Media Player.
When you use a Roku TV with the Smart TV experience enabled, we use Automatic Content Recognition (“ACR”) technology to receive information about what you watch via the Roku TV’s antenna (including live television content and ads), and via devices connected to your Roku TV (including streaming players, consoles and cable and satellite set top boxes). For example, we collect TV viewing information such as the programs, commercials, and channels you view, the date, time and duration of the viewing, and how you use the on-screen TV guide. We collect TV viewing information both when you access live TV directly through your Smart TV’s interface and when you access live TV from within a Third-Party Channel. If the Smart TV experience is enabled on your Roku TV, we will use this information to personalize your TV viewing experience and ads.
Or quoting III.B:
We may disclose personal information (including Roku account registration information when you sign up with the channel or content provider, and information about your interactions with their content and the Roku Services), with partners whose services are available through the Roku Services such as providers of Third-Party Channels, Roku Direct Publisher Channels and other content providers on the Roku Services.
So much "nope" from me...
> One of the researchers working on this guide said, "It had such a scary privacy policy, I didn't even connect it to my TV." Another researcher referred to Roku as a "privacy nightmare." (https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/roku-st...)
(The idea was that fancy HDMI cables could also carry Ethernet, so an AV receiver or TV could also be an Ethernet switch for connected devices.)
"observed" in this case means "random reddit user claimed so, but no reputable organization was able to replicate such a easily to replicate claim".
Thinking of getting an AppleTV instead, haven't gotten around to it yet.
(1) https://kodi.tv/
though doing this with a raspberry pi is more fun.
[EDIT] Oh nevermind, this is about making sure nothing can wake up and phone home when not explicitly powered on.
i also have a few of the Conserve Switch models, which have a wireless radio switch but is otherwise not "smart": https://www.belkin.com/conserve-switch/P-F7C01008.html
both have been handy and going strong. i'm still puzzled why belkin basically discontinued the conserve line of products. seemed like the logical launch off point for their smart home stuff (now under the wemo brand name).