Unlikely, because the third-party box probably uploads screenshots or does something equally noxious as well, if not today, then in the not-too-distant future.
I have an TV and I feel like Apple is doing a decent job of trying to prevent selling user data by any means.
I was kinda hoping Apple TV would adopt a more privacy-forward stance. No?
Maybe? Depends on whether some Apple exec ever decides they need the revenue or not. For comparison, even Google's "Don't be evil" reputation only lasted about a decade or so.
Google depends on data to make money while Apple doesn’t. They make their money from the hardware.
Sure, Apple makes most of their money from the hardware, currently. When times get tough for Apple and they're in a situation where they need to look for more revenue (remember the MS bailout back in '97?), well, we'll see...