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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]

#331

My TVs are on the IoT network so that I can control them from Home Assistant, but they're blocked from accessing the internet. DNS lookups are redirected or blocked (53 redirected to my local DNS resolver, 853 blocked), and DoH is blocked as best effort though it's hard to block HTTP DNS traffic, which again is why the devices are blocked in the firewall. All streaming is done via AppleTV, which is a platform I trust…

That's great that you know how to do that, but LG and others know that also. They don't care that a miniscule amount of ppl can do it, they care about the 99.9999% that don't. Thid should be dealt with legislation and very high fees, sufficient to discourage anyone to do it.

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

#332
This is a known feature that is not hidden which is not automatically turned on by default.

You must set your TV to a different standby mode and enable LG voice control.

When you do this, it very plainly tells you that it can listen with the screen off so you can control the TV with voice.

Failure of User Awareness, not some nefarious spyware.

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

#333

It's unfortunate LG screens are still the best in image quality, even though competition is getting closer. That said, the best way to use LG TVs is to immediately disconnect them from the internet and use an Apple TV 4K for streaming applications.

"Disconnect" is not enough. They will seek out open WiFi and other available LG TVs as relays. You need to remove the WiFi card or at least the antenna.

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

#334

What would the HN crowd recommend for a good linux streaming box + hardware with decent TV UX and remote? My LG is completely offline and I'm using an nvidia shield to display any content, but I'm thinking maybe I need to go the extra mile, there nothing preventing an android tv box to do the same.

> My LG is completely offline

Are you sure? They will seek out open WiFi and other neighboring LG TVs as relays.

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

#336

It's unfortunate LG screens are still the best in image quality, even though competition is getting closer. That said, the best way to use LG TVs is to immediately disconnect them from the internet and use an Apple TV 4K for streaming applications.

Why trust apple?

Sent from iPhone (for now)

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

#337
post #3

The title undersells it. The TV has multiple mics that can't be disabled, they constantly record everything and upload transcripts in plain text. It gathers data and metadata of all devices on the network, including IP addresses. And even analyzes network data to understand which applications are being run.

Did the video actually say this? I scrubbed through and found it interesting, but from what I gathered, microphones were only activated when AI voice input was used. Granted, there was no investigation on how trigger happy the beginning of recording might actually be. Did I misinterpret?

It did. This was basically all in the first 10-15 minutes.

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

#338

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

There’s a list of them in the Intercepting section of the source video.
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