this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2025
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Privacy

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I'm currently looking to buy a new TV. While I do use Jellyfin to watch movies and shows stored locally in my network, I still want to allow the TV to go on the internet, because I (and my girlfriend) like to watch YouTube, Netflix and such on the TV as well.

My main issue is that I'm looking to buy a Google TV, mainly because I think it's easier to sideload apps like NewPipe or F-Droid. This is one thing that absolutely sucks on my current Samsung TV with its Tizen OS. However, like any Google service, giving it access to the internet is just asking to have your data exfiltrated.

So, I've been thinking about whether I can get a Google TV, but restrict its internet access enough to still use it normally, while blocking all telemetry. I don't have an OpenWRT router or Opnsense firewall (and currently I don't have the capacity, nerves and time to set one up), but I do have a pi hole. I was wondering whether a Pi Hole is enough to block any data exfiltration attempts of my TV? I could restrict the TVs DNS capabilities in my router, so it is forced to use the Pi for name resolution. Are the blocklists good enough for this?

I've also looked into de-googled Android TV builds, but I couldn't find anything conclusive about their capability to display DRM'd media. Do apps like Netflix still run on those OS's? Is a RaspberryPi enough to display 4K media, or would a more advanced mini PC be needed?

I'm a bit exhausted from my research into this topic, tbh, so excuse the rambly post. I just want help

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[–] superglue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I think the unfortunate reality is that if you want full privacy when it comes to a TV, you have to go full pirate. Probably not what you want to hear.

[–] Lauchmelder@feddit.org 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Also not really feasible sadly, if I lived alone I could consider it. I'm just trying to find a good compromise between privacy and convenience

[–] superglue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 hours ago

If its not feasable because your partner doesnt want to switch, I can say i was in the same spot as you a few years ago.

The key is to provide a better service than Netflix, then they will be happy to cancel it. Look into Usenet and the arr stack. My setup is fully automated. I almost never have to manually add shows to download. Sonarr/Radarr even add shows from Netflix automatically, everything just shows up on our TV.