I am unsure if this is the right community but here it goes.

I want to buy a smart TV and I will plug a HDMI device into it. I want to stream my games and movies to the TV via moonlight/jellyfin. I heard about ACR and how it can be used to recognize content running on our TV which will be then sold off to advertisement companies/data brokers.

Say I have isolated the traffic of the TV (the OS of the TV specifically) to a separate VLAN. But the connected HDMI device is connected to the internet. Can the TV use this network to effectively “phone home”? Do HDMI devices have this capability?

PS: I know modern HDMI dongles can also share data but I at least have the option to change the device/use a mini PC.

Edit: There might be a misunderstanding. I don’t want the TV to communicate via HDMI. I want to know if it’s possible and what should I do so that I can prevent this form of communication. However, it seems that this protocol is incredibly rare so I should be fine. However, some TVs can attempt to connect to open WiFi, so it would be wise to just yank the WiFi chip from inside the TV.

  • WoodScientist@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    18 hours ago

    I’m surprised they haven’t just started building 5g chips right into the tvs. That’s the end goal here. Just make it so the devices don’t even need your cooperation to phone home.

    • xavier666@lemmy.umucat.dayOPEnglish
      0·
      17 hours ago

      Please don’t give them any ideas. I know that some ISPs already provide routers with hidden SSIDs which are kind of used like a mesh. TVs, in collaboration with those ISPs, them can communicate.

  • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    Ethernet over HDMI does exist as a standard, but iirc it requires the device manufacturer on both ends of the cable to have a special implementation, and also requires a special cable that has the Ethernet data lanes included. I’m not sure any modern displays implement it anymore, it kinda died because it sucked and wasn’t that useful.

    • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      They can barely make the other device turn on reliably, let alone have enough planets aligned to let the other device access the internet.

    • xavier666@lemmy.umucat.dayOPEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      Ethernet over HDMI

      Thanks for this. Looks like it’s a rare protocol.

      Excerpt from the article

      If you have an HEC-compatible device, it will most likely be self-described somewhere in the user’s manual. Unfortunately, this technology is rarely implemented, and you would be hard-pressed to find a device that uses HEC. Through our research, we were unable to find any modern consumer device that uses HEC.

      I am slightly relieved.

  • Auli@lemmy.caEnglish
    01·
    1 day ago

    Noo long answer Noooo. Even if device had it you need a cable that supports it.

  • MTK@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    It’s very very unlikely that your TV and your device connected to it both support and enable ethernet over HDMI by default. But if you are unsure you can test it by connecting and seeing if the TV is getting a connection.

    Personally I also opened my TV and disconnected the wifi card since in theory the TV could also just try to connect to any open wifi in the area without me knowing, but to each their own threat model.

    • xavier666@lemmy.umucat.dayOPEnglish
      0·
      2 days ago

      But if you are unsure you can test it by connecting and seeing if the TV is getting a connection

      I might be a bit paranoid but I suspect that in such a scenario, the TV will report that there is no connection but will keep on sending data to remote servers.

      Fortunately in my area there are no open WiFi networks but disconnecting the WiFi card is a good suggestion. Wish we had physical kill-switches in all devices.