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216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]

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Re: 216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]

#261

Post by wolrah »

bzzzt wrote: post #184
amelius wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you know that ethernet can run over HDMI? It's called HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC).

Yes, but support in devices and cables is very limited.

Support in cables is nearly universal, because the same pins in the cable are used for the Audio Return Channel feature that allows a TV to pass audio from its internal apps back out to a soundbar or receiver via the same HDMI cable it takes signals in on from other devices. As far as I'm aware no one has made a cable lacking those pins since 1080p was still the high end.

But yes, support for the ethernet mode as far as I'm aware was never actually implemented in any devices that reached retail availability.

Re: 216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]

#262

Post by wolrah »

iamtedd wrote: post #191
bzzzt wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but support in devices and cables is very limited.

How much would support increase when manufacturers realise how few of their TVs don't get connected to the network?

Not at all, because it uses the same pins as ARC, so the two features can't operate at the same time, and a lot of people use ARC to get audio from TV apps back to a soundbar or receiver.

HDMI Ethernet is dead, it's never going to happen in consumer televisions because it has a hard conflict with a feature a lot of people actually use.

Re: 216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]

#263

Post by in_vestor »

datakan wrote: post #260
in_vestor wrote: post #249

Why are people so infuriated by Flock cameras but just completely shrug at this (much worse) TV thing? Nothing is going to change until people are that enraged by it.

Can't watch football on a flock camera

Is it really that simple? Is society really that dumb?

Re: 216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]

#264

Post by airstrike »

imglorp wrote: post #256
Sophira wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, you're not crazy. I'm also someone who actually reads terms documents, because I find that they're often the only thing that will be truthful about a company's intentions. And keeping it completely disconnected from the internet should be the default, in my opinion.

There is absolutely no reason to read those contracts any more. As Louis Rossman keeps pointing out, most of them now include the ability for them to change terms at any time. That's basically the null contract. Since the legal system has once again failed to protect users from corporations, it's up to users to use technical means for self defense.

Interestingly, in Brazil and I'm sure in some other legislations, those contracts are essentially void because there's a presumption the average person does not have the time, patience, or ability to understand every clause—so they are by definition unable to agree to their terms.

I'd love to have a similar standard applied in the US but I'm not holding my breath.

Re: 216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]

#265

Post by otikik »

recurseP wrote: post #202
snvzz wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only good until the device starts using a neighbor's LG TV as access point, without telling you, for the sole purpose of upgrading itself and sending this "telemetry".

Really?

Well that is how Airtags work.

Any iphone/ipad/mac nearby will act as a router for them[1]

Given that we have already established that LG is a shady company, I wouldn't put it beyond them to try to use the same trick.

[1]https://lifehacker.com/tech/how-apple-airtags-actually-work

Re: 216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]

#267

Post by wavesplash »

soleveloper wrote: post #244
korzinka wrote: post #106

I've bought an LG Smart TV 5 years ago, read t&c where I was supposed to grant them any data they wanted, decided to disagree and kept all network functions disabled. I was ridiculed by my friends for that. At some point, I thought - maybe I'm really crazy to do so? Who am I, a caveman, a luddite? Oh well, I'm not. Not a bad tv though, many HDMI ports!

Is there a list of all LG tracking services and external DNS endpoints? I'd just block them - and keep local streaming and remote control working edit: just found out WebOS doesn't support DoH/DoT so nextdns won't work. I wonder if one of the public dns providers got LG blocklisted natively with specific IP

Worse, if you watch the GN video this article is based on you'll find the TV can figure out how to leverage other non obvious networks (threads, etc) to reach LG servers. Worth a watch to see how bad this is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IFVTcM28KA

Re: 216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]

#268

Post by fanatic2pope »

Asmod4n wrote: post #134
harha wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're streaming via AppleTV, why do you need to give the TV itself access to the network?

There is sadly no hdmi CEC support on Most GPUs for pcs. So when you want your tv to turn on and off with your pc it is only possible with the tv being reachable from your pc via ip. I believe LG doesn’t advertise such an api via Bluetooth

You can get USB controlled CEC injectors for HDMI.

https://www.pulse-eight.com/p/104/usb-hdmi-cec-adapter

Re: 216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]

#269

Post by miki123211 »

rickdeckard wrote: post #211

Watching the actual investigation video the article is based on, it turns out that alot of the statements in the article don't really hold up to closer scrutiny. I couldn't find any "smoking gun" or discovery of malicious intent. What's left in the end is the already-known fact in the tech-community: The most-common, most-vulnerable and most-equipped device to spy on you in your home is your Smart-TV. 1. It has all t…

And it's the only device that "normies" own that has reliable power and reliable internet 24/7. This means you can use it for nefarious purposes, even wastefully so, and it won't show up as suspicious battery drain or prematurely hitting the cell plan's data cap.

For a lot of hacker type stuff (esp. botnets and residential proxies), this is exactly what you want.

I used to believe that piracy couldn't come back in a significant way because people don't want to use computers any more, and phones are a really bad fit for p2p, even if running some hypothetical non-walled-garden OS that wouldn't have issues with that sort of thing. I entirely failed to appreciate the impact of cheap Android TV boxes here.

Re: 216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]

#270

Post by Sharlin »

spockz wrote: post #171

Okay. This is insane. First the monitor that uses a windows feature to automatically install a small helper tool with root permissions and then starts showing adds in certain regions. Now a tv that is actually actively snooping around on top of the known fingerprinting. What else is next? In the previous topic I got ridiculed for not wanting to buy LG anymore because I could use an agent to modify to strip out the of…

Well, it’s a smart TV. I would assume with extreme prejudice that every single one of them is doing stuff like this and worse until proven innocent. Based on everything I’ve read about these things it seems the most reasonable stance.

> In the previous topic I got ridiculed for not wanting to buy LG anymore because I could use an agent to modify to strip out the offending bits.

Jesus fucking Christ.

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