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LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby

LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby

sbulaev

Comments (181)

  • miguel-muniz
    I wish there was some regulation that would force TVs to have a "dumb" mode. When the colors on our previous living room TV started to go out my dad ended up buying a new huge Vizio during black friday for really cheap. He left it to me to set up, since I'm the tech guy of the family, as you all probably understand.I was surprised that the first thing I was prompted to do was to download an app and sign up for an account. The TV would not work unless I was signed in (or at the very least the option was so well hidden I didn't see one). Of course the sign up asks for PII like my name and phone number.Vizio was bought out by Walmart a while back, with the intent of expanding Walmart's advertising empire.It's really unfortunate that the TV market has ended up the way it has. My family still has a few CRTs going that have been working every day for decades, just turn it on and TV immediately starts playing. I miss that level of simplicity.
  • hn_submit
    The Koreans are taking a huge risk destroying the trust they've built over the last 30 years with this incessant spying and adware. Both LG and Samsung are engaged in this and it could open the door to Chinese rivals like TCL and HiVision. Not because they're much better but because discoveries like these will leave a bad taste in people's mouth whenever they want to buy a new TV.They need to put a stop to this or they'll start losing market share fast.Can this spying and tracking be so lucrative that they'll risk alienating their customers over it?
  • Jonnax
    Is there anyone who has done a technical write up and investigation into the firmwares?Like reverse engineering how the software on the TVs work.Also what third parties are involved.I have a feeling there must be some third party vendor selling the same toolkit that manufacturers use.Would be nice to figure out if it's possible to send junk data to the endpoints.
  • dathery
    > In July this year, the channel flagged that some LG monitors were automatically installing an app that collected device data and ran pop-up ads for LG’s other apps and even McAfee antivirus. The public pressure from that video prompted an intervention from Microsoft, and ultimately led to LG disabling the pop-up ads.Can anyone explain why Windows even makes this possible? I had to fight against Windows installing Alienware command center nonsense automatically because I have a "gaming" Dell OLED. Windows automatically fetched and installed it just from plugging in the monitor, adding a new system tray icon and persistent daemon with these kinds of annoying pop-ups and probably a bunch of security vulnerabilities.It's completely incomprehensible to me. The monitor works great without it, on both Windows and Linux! I left a negative review on an otherwise good monitor as a result, but Microsoft shouldn't even be entertaining this crap.
  • mtalantikite
    As someone who has never owned a TV and doesn’t know about this space, are there any TV manufacturers that are just a basic screen anymore?
  • BrandoElFollito
    I doubt they are doing this in the EU. One GDPR request and they would be in a lot of trouble.
  • dnw
    I need a Brother for TVs.
  • designerarvid
    Is there some way to jailbreak your tv and run som open source os on it? Or something like that?Not exactly sure what I’m after, but the problem is acute and widely prevalent, so there has to be some solution.
  • sroussey
    All smart TVs should be disconnected from the internet. Use an AppleTV or similar.
  • ralferoo
  • angelomichel_nl
    Posted on a website where you can't read without subscribing... just like the video man! LG might be after money, but theverge is just the same lol.
  • CMay
    Does this mean that TVs can never be recycled or resold now, adding to the garbage problem? All you have to do is sell the TV to someone who does eventually connect it to the internet and it will upload all the data it acquired while the previous owner had it?
  • apt-apt-apt-apt
    What's the incentive for these manufacturers to do this?Are they getting paid for the data (e.g. we'll pay you $100M to install spyware), or are they trying to be an ad platform, or is it simply analytics gone out of control?
  • ortusdux
    I've said it before, but I wish a somewhat trustworthy organization would create a 'DUMB' certification - "Don't Upload My Bits".
  • jzer0cool
    Hardware switches would be plus in modern era. Not just for mics.
  • soupbowl
    Are the WiFi cards on these TV like laptops or soldered on. I wonder if you can atleast disconnect the antenna or remove WiFi chip.
  • hermitdev
    I don't mean to be dismissive, but isn't this old news? Hasn't it been the case that _all_ "smart" TVs have been spying on users since they came out? I've personally operated as if they are: my TV is not connected to the internet. At least, not through my internet connection. It's not on my wifi, nor is it connected to my LAN.
  • jboggan
    Reminder that smart TV ids are part of California's DROP platform, and that you can (and should) request that all registered data brokers delete data associated with your television.
  • anon
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  • system2
    This is the reason why I allow certain mac addresses to communicate outside of my house. SonicWall makes it easy.
  • slackfan
    But I was reliably informed this never happens! (Reasons I own an NEC commercial display instead)
  • Cort3z
    Ohh my this website is terrible on mobile
  • anon
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  • ChrisArchitect