I sure as fuck hope not lol. I don't think my TV has that capability, even if it wanted to. If I don't give it access to my shit, its just a big-ass monitor lol.
Absolutely! There is no reason for the TV itself to have access, I'm actually using this TV as kind of an experiment, I let my last 2 roku TVs access the internet, and after 2-3 years they both went tits up. I've heard rumors that they can pretty much be broken on schedule with "updates" and shit. No idea if that is true, But if this TV lasts me a good long while, I will assume it is lol. So far 1 year on this one lol.
Might not be the exact solution you're looking for, but I run my "smart TV" off a cheap ass laptop. The TV itselfbhas never been connected to the internet.
That sounds awfully similar to deaths from the flu every year, why didn't everybody flip out and wrap their faces in panty liners before big scary covid came along and petrified the sheep? I'm old enough to remember all the terrifying "pandemics" that the media tried to scare everybody with every 5 or 12 years or so. Covid is the one that stuck.
I have 2 of the vile critters now, one I inherited from my ex, the other one just kind of showed up.