> mining my viewing habits

apple tv isn't private, apple does mine your viewing habits, read their eula.

You should also know that all non-apple apps like netflix have unrestricted network access and can/will do the same.

It is too bad that people accept apple's marketing about privacy, because they have dark patterns, they collect telemetry, they don't let you block it, and they help apps do the same things.

A privacy policy is not the same as being able to firewall your device, but apple doesn't allow firewalls.

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ProllyInfamous 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Just FYI on MacOS's default telemetry:

1) By default, every word (each character, actually) you input into Spotlight/Siri gets time-stamped and sent to `smoot.apple.com`

2) Even with a Pi-Hole blocking *.apple.com (i.e. using MacOS >> Networking >> DNS Server), on boot all modern Apple Silicon reaches out to security.apple.com (i.e. bypassing the user's manual-input DNS setting), using the DHCP-issued DNS IP [0]

pro-tip: use your router's DHCP to auto-issue your local Pi-Hole's IP address [as DNS] with your IP-leases; then you'll actually be able to block all *.apple.com traffic (using the PiHole which your DHCP issues to, by default)

[0] this is for security chip "lockout" detection (e.g.) and it is pervasive across NICs (i.e. it REALLY seeks any attempt for DNS resolution to security.apple.com)

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IndySun 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

>...pro-tip...

Thank you for the detailed suggestion. I use LittleSnitch. pi-hole previously, I must take another look. Did you catch LG spying posts?

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kvuj 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> 1) By default, every word (each character, actually) you input into Spotlight/Siri gets time-stamped and sent to `smoot.apple.com`

Huh? How do you expect Apple to show live search results if they don't send what you're typing to their servers?

> 2) Even with a Pi-Hole blocking *.apple.com (i.e. using MacOS >> Networking >> DNS Server), on boot all modern Apple Silicon reaches out to security.apple.com (i.e. bypassing the user's manual-input DNS setting), using the DHCP-issued DNS IP [0]

From a quick google search, it seems to be if you enable "Find my" or pass word recovery with an Apple account. I think that's reasonable to expect if you enable these features.

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gambiting an hour ago | parent [-]

>>Huh? How do you expect Apple to show live search results if they don't send what you're typing to their servers?

I don't want spotlight to show any online results in the first place, is there anyone here who does?

	▲	jmb99 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Settings -> Spotlight -> Turn off everything you don't want. The first few times you open it it even tells you this. Admittedly I haven't confirmed that this results in no API calls in the latest few macOS releases but it definitely used to stop them, at least a few years ago.

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eli 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'm comfortable with the idea that Netflix can collect data about what I watch on Netflix, and that Apple can track what I buy in the Apple app.

I'm not comfortable with my TV or streaming stick manufacturer collecting and mining data about everything that appears on the screen.

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GeekyBear 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Privacy advocates recommend Apple TV for a reason.

> Breaking down why Apple TVs are privacy advocates’ go-to streaming device

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/06/all-the-ways-apple-t...

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Sir_Twist 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Apple (mostly) isn’t in the business of selling ads. I’d certainly trust this over most other options.

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a123b456c 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Actually, they sell lots of ads in the app store. I will not be surprised if they sell video ads, display ads or search ads in the future. They could earn tens of billions in revenue per year; the main business question is how that trades off against the various downsides of advertising sales.

	▲	pooloo 24 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Apple generated $416 billion in total net sales in 2025. Of that total, $307 billion (about 74% of total revenue) came directly from their hardware ecosystem. The services segment generated the remaining $109 billion (26%); including their advertising platforms, AppleCare, cloud services, and Apple TV... Seems like their advertising might not be a focus...