Dear Roku Community. We currently have a 32" Samsung TV and a Roku box. Both have held up beautifully for the past several years but now we want to get a new larger 4K tv. The issue is they all seem to be "smart" TV's which apparently means voice activated, and I am creeped out by this. Even if you turn the voice setting off, do you really know it's off and will stay off? I know millions of people have Amazon Echo's and Dots in their homes but I think they are incredibly invasive. I just want to buy a new TV that is not voice activated. I want to hook up a new roku device to it to stream through, and be done. I don't care if all the media companies on the planet know what I watch, I just don't want them capable of eavesdropping in our living room. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
You could get the Roku Express 4K (not the 4K+) at Walmart, since it only has a simple remote (and no voice functions); however, you would also lose TV control capabilities (the 4K+ comes with a voice remote with the capabilities).
That is annoying. It makes me hope my Samsung dumb TV keeps working "forever". My parents' newer Samsung Smart TV, turns itself on in the middle of the night at full volume, spontaneously jumps to full volume when watching, or decides that the volume can only be allowed to go 1 unit above or below wherever it happens to be now, no matter how many times you press. It seems like many of the Smart TV OS's are pretty "hacky" so I have no faith at all in their privacy and security. You might try looking for a TV that doesn't HAVE to be connected to the internet. ie: if you can turn it on and do "normal TV stuff" like switching inputs, all without telling it your Wi-Fi password, then I think that would render it safe and private.
Thanks for your suggestion however I don't have a 4K TV yet so unless I'm missing something, using the Roku Express 4K would not improve anything picture wise correct?
I found this page from Samsung which is somewhat reassurring, but it's from 3 years ago so not sure it still works that way
https://www.samsung.com/africa_en/support/tv-audio-video/smart-tv-voice-recognition-concern/
Smart TV Voice Recognition Concern
What does the voice data do / what is it used for?
· The voice recognition feature allows you to control the TV by using commands such as “Channel up/down” or “Volume up/down.” It also allows you to search for content – for example “Basketball games” so that the select Smart TVs can make recommendations.
Is the TV recording my voice or conversations all the time?
· No. The feature is only turned on when the user activates it.
· The voice recognition feature of the TV is easily activated or deactivated by the user.
· Users can easily recognize if the voice recognition feature is activated because a microphone icon appears on the screen.
How do I know it’s listening or not?
· If the TV’s voice recognition feature is turned on for a command, an icon of a microphone will appear on the screen.
· If no icon appears on the screen, the voice recognition feature is off.
How do exactly I turn voice recognition on and off?
· To turn on voice recognition, first you must agree to the privacy policy and activate the feature in the settings menu.
· Then you can either say “Hi TV” or press the voice command button on select remote controls. The microphone icon will then appear on your TV screen and the TV will then await the command. If one is not heard within 15 seconds, the voice recognition feature will automatically turn off.
Is my voice recorded on the TV? Sent and kept elsewhere?
· The TV does not actually record any sounds, but merely processes the requested command into data in order to obey the command or search for content.
Is my voice provided to a third party? Do they keep it?
· The only time voice data is provided to a third party is during a search. At that time, the voice data is sent to a server, which searches for the requested content then returns the desired content to the TV. For example, if you search for “Basketball Games,” the data will transmit to an external server that compiles all instances of “Basketball games” and then returns that data to the TV. The data is deleted shortly after the question is answered.
Is my voice or data sold to third parties for marketing purposes?
· Your voice data is not sold to a third party; it is merely used to process the request made for content.
Does my personal information get sent to a third party?
· Details such as your name, address, etc. are not sent to a third party unless you actively provide such details during the course of the command. For example, if you activate voice control and ask to search your own name and state that is your name, then that data would then go to a third party server, perform the search and return the results.
@MrMustard777 wrote:Thanks for your suggestion however I don't have a 4K TV yet so unless I'm missing something, using the Roku Express 4K would not improve anything picture wise correct?
Your post implied you currently dont have a 4K TV, and that you are going to get one.
If you are getting a new 4K TV, you'll want a 4K-capable streaming device to go along with it (for the improved 4K picture quality), hence the Express 4K suggestion.
You can get the Express 4K now and use it with your 1080p TV, and then move it to the 4K TV and get the improved picture quality.
@MrMustard777 wrote:I found this page from Samsung which is somewhat reassurring, but it's from 3 years ago so not sure it still works that way
For detailed questions and comments about Samsung's products and services, this is the wrong forum - you want to ask this in a Samsung-specific forum: