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Ask HN: Should it be legal to switch privacy policies after purchase?

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Re: Ask HN: Should it be legal to switch privacy policies after purchase?

#31

Post by notrealpersonq »

nonameiguess wrote: post #24

I don't think it should be legal, but Congress unfortunately doesn't give me a whole lot of say in what becomes law. Your best bet is probably to just not use the app from now on. Go ahead and accept the new terms, then disenroll in however you need to. I have an LG dryer/washer pair, but never downloaded the app, didn't register the equipment, and it's not on my network but still works fine. You can't remotely trigg…

Thanks for the suggestion.

I think the only thing would get people to act is to say Russians/Chinese are spying on people with microwaves/tvs.. Otherwise media won't report on this.

Re: Ask HN: Should it be legal to switch privacy policies after purchase?

#32

Post by giantg2 »

Most policies/contracts for B2C products (and employer to employee) are next to worthless for the consumer. Most have some sort of language saying they alone make the rules and they can change them at any time with or without notice.

As a consumer and employee, I feel it would be great to get rid of that language. I doubt congress will do anything about it since that would require a massive change to contract law.

Re: Ask HN: Should it be legal to switch privacy policies after purchase?

#33

Post by neltnerb »

Thanks for the warning, I just bought a pair of these last week. I had planned to never in a million years pair it with a phone or connect it to wireless, and this just makes it obvious what the repercussions would have been.

Paying ~$2k for appliances that then try to extract extra money out of you with targeted advertising (for what! you already bought the equipment!).

Bookmark history! Dear god.

Re: Ask HN: Should it be legal to switch privacy policies after purchase?

#34

Post by LightG »

No.

I was recently incredibly annoyed with my TV "threatening" me that if I didn't accept the regular new privacy policies, I would lose functionality (of course, with the 50 pages of on-screen legalese that you're supposed to read before accepting).

LG ... I'm looking at you and your mafia tactics. Good topic to bring up, it's getting ridiculous.

Signed: A previous LG fan

Re: Ask HN: Should it be legal to switch privacy policies after purchase?

#35

Post by foxyv »

nerbert wrote: post #21
foxyv wrote: post #11

I don't regret sticking to dumb appliances. I hate Smart TVs with a passion, but they are all you can get nowadays. But I can just throw the TV out the window if it stops working when I unplug it and continue living just fine. Not so much with my washer, dryer, stove, car and fridge/freezer. I do not look forward to the day you CAN'T buy a non-smart appliance like a fridge or water heater.

People here regularly recommend a brand of dumb tv that is very reasonable in terms of image quality.

Thank you, I'll keep an eye out!

Re: Ask HN: Should it be legal to switch privacy policies after purchase?

#37

Post by neltnerb »

jen20 wrote: post #16
dvdhnt wrote: post #3

Wow. I do not believe changes to terms after purchase should be allowed unless required by law. We need a lemon-like law for consumer electronics. Also, I believe it is important to not buy connected devices and appliances that are not entertainment purposes only. I’d rather pay $200 extra for a dumb tv that will last be 10 years and guaranteed to not start showing me ads in the menu screen someday.

I’m in the market for a TV currently, and have found (in the US) that it doesn’t matter how much extra I’d be willing to pay for a dumb TV, there just aren’t any beyond super low-end ones. Any pointers to some would be much appreciated!

I got a TV that wishes it were smart. I just refused to accept the ToS upon turning it on, never connected it to the wifi, and use an HDMI cable instead.

To this day if I accidentally click the wrong input button it asks me to accept the ToS. But since I haven't and won't accept them at least that's something.

Though I think it should be extremely illegal to change the terms of service for an appliance. Software maybe, a service maybe, but not a washing machine or TV! What are you supposed to do if you disagree, try to return it 3 years after purchase? Will the manufacturer pay for you to spend your time packing it up to send back to them for a full refund (of purchase price)?

Of course not. The warranty and return periods are up, you have no choices.

Re: Ask HN: Should it be legal to switch privacy policies after purchase?

#38

Post by mongol »

terminalcommand wrote: post #19

I think the real issue here is not whether it should be legal to switch privacy policy after purchase. LG shouldn't be allowed to collect more info than it requires. It seems absurd to me that a washer-dryer needs to access bookmark history etc. to function. I would contact my local data protection authority and alert them of this practice. I guess LG would get in some trouble :). My initial instinct is that this col…

Yes this is a clear GDPR violation. But depends on which jurisdiction, of course

Re: Ask HN: Should it be legal to switch privacy policies after purchase?

#39

Post by mongol »

jen20 wrote: post #16
dvdhnt wrote: post #3

Wow. I do not believe changes to terms after purchase should be allowed unless required by law. We need a lemon-like law for consumer electronics. Also, I believe it is important to not buy connected devices and appliances that are not entertainment purposes only. I’d rather pay $200 extra for a dumb tv that will last be 10 years and guaranteed to not start showing me ads in the menu screen someday.

I’m in the market for a TV currently, and have found (in the US) that it doesn’t matter how much extra I’d be willing to pay for a dumb TV, there just aren’t any beyond super low-end ones. Any pointers to some would be much appreciated!

I have no idea but my TV has service menus which seems very advanced. Google your TV brand + service manual and you may find something.

Re: Ask HN: Should it be legal to switch privacy policies after purchase?

#40

Post by notrealpersonq »

tfsh wrote: post #17
notrealpersonq wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It definitely is 1GB per day. Any insight/links on how I can do that? I'll admit I have no idea where to begin when it comes to this.

You could use Wireshark[1] which is a pretty powerful network packet sniffing application. If you capture using monitor mode, you'll likely see a bunch of 802.11 requests - take a look at [2]. 1: https://wireshark.org 2: https://wiki.wireshark.org/HowToDecrypt802.11

Thank you, I'll look into it today.
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