It is so difficult to find modern electronics without telemetry and ads. Smartphones, laptops, TVs, home routers, security cameras, cars, game consoles, e-readers, projectors, 3D printers, fitness trackers, speakers, and even some printers. Why can’t customers be free from this data collection and advertising? It’s not that we don’t care about it. There simply aren’t many alternatives, and the few that do exist are either more expensive or offer fewer features. Seriously, we need a list of products we can buy and use directly without worrying about telemetry or advertising.
The following list is updated at https://lemmy.ml/post/52706206. Please note that this list may contain errors.
- PC: Anything Linux
- Laptop: Framework Laptop, System76, MNT, Purism Laptops, Starlabs Laptops, TUXEDO Computers, NovaCustom, Slimbook, Pinebook by PINE64
- Smartphone: Jolla Phone, Purism, NovaCustom Smartphones, Fairphone with /e/OS, PinePhone by PINE64
- Brax Phone and its Criticism
- Google Pixel + GrapheneOS might be a better option
- Fairphone OS collects information such as the IMEI, serial number, OS version, device model/brand, operator information, and network/cell information…
- Tablets: StarLite by Starlabs, PineTab by PINE64
- Smartwatch: Pinetime, Bangle.js, ZSWatch, Pebble
- GadgerBridge is a free and open source Android application that allows you to pair and manage various gadgets such as smart watches, bands, headphones, and more without the need for the vendor application.
- HealthyPi Move is not available yet
- Wireless headphones: Fairbuds, PineBuds by PINE64
- Alternatives: IEMs (wired in-ear monitors) + wireless dongle
- Kiwi Ears Cadenza, Truthear Gate/Hexa/Pure, Moondrop Chu 2, Fiio BTR11, Snowsky Retro Nano…
- Alternatives: IEMs (wired in-ear monitors) + wireless dongle
- Wireless Speakers: ?
- E-ink devices: PineNote by PINE64
- Open Book Touch is not available yet
- https://www.crowdsupply.com/e-paper
- Alternatives: CrossPoint Reader Devices require a manual CrossPoint install after purchase.
- TVs: All modern TVs upload your screen, sound out the speaker, information about other device in the same WiFi, conversation collected with built-in microphones and video recordings with built-in camera 24/7.
- Projectors: Same as TV
- Game Console: Anything Linux
- MiSTer FPGA is an open-source FPGA-based retro gaming platform, not a single commercial console. There’s no official finished console to buy.
- VR:
- Steam Frame has telemetry but there is no better option
- Routers: OPNsense
- Alternatives: GL.iNET collects minimal telemetry, and you can install OpenWrt on it.
- MikroTik routers does seem to collect telemetry
- SmartHome: PineVoice and PineCam by PINE64
- Alternatives: Home Assistant + Zigbee / Z-Wave Devices Without WiFi
- Security cameras: ?
- Reolink cameras collects telemetry but can be used locally.
- Printers: All modern printers put invisible tracking codes in printed pages, which can identify the exact printer and date and time of printing.
- Openprinter is not available yet.
- 3D printers: Prusa 3D Printer, Sovol
- Cars: All modern car uploads location, speed, information on every device you have connected to your car, your contacts, in-car conversations with built-in microphones and video recordings with built-in camera 24/7
- It’s Official: Cars Are the Worst Product Category We Have Ever Reviewed for Privacy by Mozilla
- Slate is not available yet
- Anything else that doesn’t come with ads or telemetry built in?
Other suggestions:
When I got a new TV (late 2010’s 2017 or 19 pretty sure it was 19) the friend hekping me move it in and set it up got me to hook it up to the wifi, I said I did not need it because I have an AppleTV but she insisted. 2020 came around and I got back into pihole, what the hell was I supposed to do in that year? And I saw how much data it was blocking, so I went looking for “smartTV” lists and saw how much more it was blocking. I read stuff and decided to turn off all the “smart” features and just to take it off the network all together.
I wish it happened sooner but a few years later I fell down the rabbit hole of FOSS and ended up getting a bunch of raspberry pi’s, I dug out an old Mac mini and installed Debian on it to act as a media server because one of my pi 5’s was not doing enough for me. That pi is soon going to replace my AppleTV and just stream the transcoded stuff from my mini and arr stack to my TV that I made dumb.