A Privacy Alarm in the Age of Chinese Smart Devices
The simultaneous failure of thousands of Chinese smart TVs in Iran revealed that the threat went far beyond a financial dispute between two companies.
In July 2025, thousands of smart TVs under the Iranian brands Snowa and Daewoo suddenly and simultaneously stopped working. Entekhab, the manufacturer of these brands in Iran, remained silent for several days before announcing that the problem was caused by a “software malfunction” stemming from “incompatibility with a Chinese supplier.” On the surface, this appeared to be a simple commercial dispute between an Iranian company and its Chinese partner. In reality, the incident pointed to something far more alarming: a crisis of privacy, technological dependency, and digital insecurity within Iranian homes.
Remote Control: When the Home Is No Longer Private
Not long ago, the television was nothing more than a passive screen. Today, it has become part of the digital infrastructure of everyday life. Smart TVs connect to the internet, collect data, analyze voice commands, and in some cases even “observe” the household through built-in cameras and microphones. Now imagine a company in another country being able, without user knowledge, to remotely disable the device or alter its functionality with a simple software update. Can such a space still be called a “home”?
In the case of Snowa and Daewoo, that is precisely what happened. The Chinese company KTC, which supplies the software platform for these televisions, altered a system update following a dispute over access levels and code rights. As a result, the devices went offline. In practice, this meant a foreign commercial entity, without judicial oversight, was able to shut down tens of thousands of devices inside Iranian households.
Helpless Users: Who Defends Citizens’ Privacy?
In other countries, privacy breaches or remote tampering with digital devices usually prompt immediate responses from regulators. Companies such as Samsung, Apple, or Amazon have been fined or forced to provide accountability for similar practices. In Iran, however, even agencies that claim to protect “consumer rights” or “regulation” remained silent.
Customers who had purchased Snowa and Daewoo smart TVs never received warnings or consent forms regarding remote software control. After the crisis hit, they faced a lack of transparency, delayed responses, and the absence of a formal authority to lodge complaints. Within this ecosystem, the Iranian user becomes defenseless, not only subject to state monitoring but also vulnerable to the technical decisions of foreign corporations.
Many Iranian buyers had chosen Snowa and Daewoo products under the belief that they were supporting “domestic goods.” Yet the recent crisis revealed that many so-called local products are little more than assembly-line adaptations, dependent on foreign hardware and software platforms. If a foreign company can remotely deactivate a device, is real control in Iranian hands? And if not, why should Iranian citizens bear the costs of this dependency inside their own homes?
A Threat Beyond TVs: When the Entire Smart Home Is at Risk
The issue is not limited to televisions. Today, refrigerators, digital locks, surveillance cameras, thermostats, and even robotic vacuum cleaners in Iranian homes are made by Chinese brands or rely on Chinese platforms. If the TV shutdown was a preview, the future could bring much darker scenarios: homes that “intelligently” shut themselves down, data that is silently transferred without user consent, and digital life that bypasses state sovereignty and falls under the control of Chinese corporations.
The blackout of smart TVs should serve as a wake-up call for how we think about digital security and privacy. Security at home is no longer just about a lock on the door or bars on the window; it now hinges on the lines of code written on a server in China, or elsewhere.
Until there is an independent regulator, a transparent data protection law, and accountability mechanisms for technology companies, every Iranian citizen remains vulnerable in their own home, exposed to potential censorship, sabotage, or privacy violations. This is not simply a technological risk; it is a social crisis.