Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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should i worry about a microphone in a third-party usb tv remote for a mini pc that im planning on using? (self.privacy)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by goofsqueak to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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im tryna get a mini pc and make it a streaming box, but i of course need a remote but the ones that actually look comfortable seem to have microphones in them, and i don't think that i will take it apart to remove the microphone. So should i just not care since im gonna use it on linux or is there an easier way to remove/break the microphone?

also does the lg remote with the motion controlled cursor thingy work on every tv or does it need to be an lg?

thank guy

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[–] monovergent@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Realistically, the software doing the phoning home would have to run on the streaming box; the AAA batteries in a remote would be drained within a matter of hours or days if it were to continuously record and send it back. Software phoning home is a concern with off-the-shelf boxes, but on a Linux mini PC, it's equivalent to plugging in an external mic. Still good practice to do away with it if you don't need it.

[–] med@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

And there was me thinking that my old google TV remote was just damaged in some way, causing battery drain...