You have 3 options:

1. Android TV/Google: bad for privacy, some devices can be customized for slightly more with tweaks, ADB, etc

2. Apple TV: pretty private compared to Google, no ads out of the box on Home Screen, nice hardware that lasts awhile.

3. Wilderness of roll your own on a mini-PC, raspberry pi, etc: no ads, private. But pain in the ass, no 4k, no full HD (720p max), no HDR, no atmos sound because not locked down with DRM for streaming services so not approved. Choose this only if most of your content is self provided Blu-ray’s or yo ho type stuff and/or YouTube. Otherwise miserable experience.

As far as 1) goes there are some better options like Dune-HD (make sure to get a Netflix certified model so you get 4k support from streaming services), and some customization via changing launchers and such for more privacy.

However only options 2 and 3 are really more private IMO and “fixes” for Android TV devices mostly are in the form of blocking ads and allowing side loading of say a custom version of YouTube with ad blocking so don’t and can’t address the under the hood spying Google is more aggressive about.

As to getting away from American. Good luck, both major platforms are American companies. Only other option is Chinese fork of Android and it’s no good for western streaming or use outside China. Otherwise roll your own but also provide your own content and that gets you away from them. A mini-pc is great for that with an air mouse but it’s not the same finely polished experience though can be decent with a little work.

Buy an N100 mini pc from aliexpress and install Stamos on it. SteamOS has a great TV UI, and I figure there are some good app options for kodi/jellyfin/youtube/web browsing on Linux. SteamOS is also bringing support for waydroid Android emulation, which would let you run Android TV apps like SmartTube and Jellyfin without Google Spyware.

Use Kodi to pirate shows and movies. TroyPoint has lots of good articles on how to set it up. Use RealDebrid and the Umbrella addon.

A 2GB RPi5 works great, install LibreElec (Kodi OS that's FOSS), put it in a Flirc passive case (they also have a Kodi variant that they then donate some proceeds towards), and hook up a small wireless USB keyboard.

I've recently bought a Vero V and it's been playing anything I've thrown at it without any issues. That includes 4K, HDR10 and AVI videos.

This is the best media player I've had over the decades.

I've had a Nvidia Shield before. I was just not happy with the advertising platform it really was. Which is why I upgraded to the Vero V.

Keep your tv disconnected from the internet completely like you did, and get a dedicated android box like the nvidia sheild for example. You can pick these up second hand for cheap.

Then uninstall any apps you do not require from the Sheild and you should be okay.

Now if you hold your own 4K media collection on a NAS you can install something like Plex and/or Jellyfin and keep your Nvidia Sheild completely offline only to access your local content. Though this really depends on your desired threat level or privacy level.

If you don't require DRM maybe a Raspberry Pi and https://konstakang.com/.

maybe an android phone with usb-c to hdmi? would be very easy to use for non techie family members too.

I went with an onn4k not logged into a google account because I got one that was patched to keep you from replacing the os with lineage but if you get the right version you can change it to lineage and put the apks for any services you want onto it

I like cloudstream personally and jellyfin is also pretty good

I used kde connect to load the apps onto it by downloading f-droid and loading apk files that way