Identify your model and software family
We help you find your model number and webOS (or platform) version, so the steps match the menus you actually see.
Your TV got smart. Let's make it a little dumber.
Who's being nosy?
Pick your TV. We'll show you the privacy settings worth checking—and how to turn your smart TV into something closer to a plain old screen.
No jargon. No doomscrolling. One screen at a time.
“Hmm. What's this menu do?”
Try it right now, free
See how it works
Four quick questions and a sample checklist. Nothing leaves your browser.
The 60-second demo
What are you watching on?
The whole product, honestly
$5. Five minutes. Fewer mysteries.
One payment. One walkthrough. No account required to read your own checklist.
Model-specific menus
The exact path through the settings, screen by screen, for your TV — not a generic list from a forum post in 2019.
Plain English, per setting
What each option does, what you give up if you turn it off, and whether it's worth bothering with.
Totally Dumb Mode
A plan for using your television as a display, with the trade-offs spelled out before you start.
A saved privacy checklist
Keep your list so you can run it again later — or hand it to whoever set up the TV.
Guides are informational. Available settings vary by model, region and software version, and can change after software updates.
The headline act
Totally Dumb Mode
Where it's feasible, you disconnect the television itself from the internet and use it as a screen for HDMI and antenna inputs. The picture stays great. The TV just stops being a computer with opinions.
Apple TV
A separate player with its own settings and policies. You choose what to sign into and what to share.
Roku device
A streaming player plugged into your TV. Its privacy choices live in the player's own settings.
Fire TV
A streaming device with its own account and data options inside its settings menus.
OTA antenna
Free broadcast channels, no streaming account required. TV-side settings still apply.
Game console
Already an app hub for many households. Data choices live in the console account settings.
Important: making the TV dumb doesn't make everything else dumb. External streaming devices, consoles and apps have their own privacy settings and their own policies. We'll point you at those too. No platform here is labelled safe or bad — they're just different sets of menus.
Coming with the paid guide
Your TV updated. Did your privacy settings?
Settings and behaviour can change after software updates, and menus sometimes move. So we keep half an eye on it for you.
- You tell us your TV model and software family — that's it.
- We monitor relevant vendor release and update information for that family.
- When an update could matter, we nudge you to re-check the handful of settings involved.
We can't see inside your television. We don't detect what software is installed on your TV unless you tell us or authorise us to use that information.
Mock alert · example only
webOS update detected → Time for a 2-minute re-check
Three of your saved settings live in menus that changed in this software family.
Help Grandma
Can Grandma find Picture Settings? Perfect. We can handle the rest.
One instruction per screen. Giant buttons. Pictures and little animations instead of paragraphs. If she can press three buttons, she can do this.
Make a simple help link
Mock flow for now — nothing is actually sent in this demo.
- 1Press the button with the little gear on it.
- 2Scroll down to the word that says General.
- 3You're done. Put the kettle on.
Who's being nosy?
Guides by platform
LG is first out of the gate. The rest are queued up — tell us which one you need and you'll jump the line.
LG (webOS)
LG televisions running webOS. Our first full guide.
Roku TV
A television with the Roku operating system built into the TV itself — not a Roku stick or box plugged into another TV.
Samsung (Tizen)
Samsung televisions running Tizen.
Fire TV
Fire TV Edition televisions and Fire TV streaming devices.
Google TV / Android TV
Televisions and players running Google TV or Android TV.
Quick clarification, because it trips everyone up
A Roku TV is a television with the Roku operating system built into the set itself. A Roku streaming player is a separate stick or box you plug into any TV. They have different settings screens, so they get different guides.
Where the money goes
Your $5 does two things
No mystery maths. Five dollars, split two ways.
$4
Builds the thing
Research, model-by-model testing, writing the guides, and keeping them current when software updates move the menus.
$1
Earmarked for digital rights
One dollar from every paid guide is set aside for privacy and digital-rights organisations. We're selecting our launch nonprofit partner now.
Partner slot — to be announced
No nonprofit has endorsed, partnered with or reviewed Nosy TV. Nothing here implies endorsement by any organisation. Transparency receipts published regularly once the give-back begins.
Make My TV Dumb
$5
One time. No subscription. No account upsell.
- Your personalised, model-specific guide
- Totally Dumb Mode plan
- Saved privacy checklist
- Update re-check guidance
- Help Grandma link
- $1 privacy give-back
Instant PDF download right after payment.
Calm, sourced, non-scary
What's all the fuss about?
Smart TVs and streaming platforms can collect viewing, device, advertising and usage data depending on model, settings and services. Here's what the words actually mean.
Automatic Content Recognition (ACR)
ACR can identify content being watched on supported inputs when it is enabled. Availability and naming vary by brand and software version.
Show me the evidenceabout Automatic Content Recognition (ACR)Viewing data
Smart TVs and streaming platforms can collect viewing, device, advertising and usage data depending on model, settings and the services you use.
Show me the evidenceabout Viewing dataAdvertising identifiers
Many platforms assign a resettable advertising identifier used to personalise ads. Platforms usually offer a way to limit or reset it.
Show me the evidenceabout Advertising identifiersHDMI inputs
Anything shown through HDMI appears on the television's screen, so TV-side features can apply to those inputs where supported and enabled.
Show me the evidenceabout HDMI inputsOver-the-air viewing
Free antenna TV still passes through the television's software, so the same TV-side settings are worth reviewing.
Show me the evidenceabout Over-the-air viewingMicrophones and voice features
Voice features are built into some remotes and sets. What is captured, and when, depends on the product, the settings and the services enabled.
Show me the evidenceabout Microphones and voice featuresSoftware updates
Settings and behaviour can change after software updates, and menu names sometimes move between versions.
Show me the evidenceabout Software updatesExternal streaming boxes
Streaming sticks, boxes and consoles have their own privacy settings and their own policies, separate from the television.
Show me the evidenceabout External streaming boxes🎬 The 5-minute explainer
For creators
Make something with us
Steal these hooks. They're accurate, they're not scaremongering, and they perform because the settings really are hidden.
Hook 1
“Your TV has privacy settings you've probably never seen.”
Hook 2
“I paid for the TV. Why does it need an ad profile?”
Hook 3
“Make your smart TV dumb in five minutes.”
Hook 4
“Before you buy another TV, check this.”
Please keep it accurate: we don't claim TVs secretly record private conversations or spy on households. The honest version — settings you've never seen, defaults you never chose — is interesting enough.