Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

youtube.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

591–600 of 1001 posts

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

#591

Post by MetaWhirledPeas »

account42 wrote: post #362
bilalq wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is just a summary of the original reporting from Gamers Nexus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IFVTcM28KA

Which is published on a video streaming website run by one of the biggest tracking and data collection companies, which is used to pay for the creation of the video (in addition to ads embedded in the video itself).

Not a valid critique when dealing with an oligopoly (YT, Tik Tok, Insta, etc.). You use the platform or you get ignored. Using the platform to criticize the platform or other platforms like it is possibly the best use of the platform.

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

#592

Post by johnnyanmac »

Anoian wrote: post #149
touwer wrote: post #139

Funny, published on a site with 1745 'partners' who fully respect our privacy of course

Respect for the consumer has long been gone generally except for a few brands. I am still wondering why consumer respecting brands are not emerging more and thriving.

We're in a recession, in all but official numbers (which are decreasingly credible by the day). Big companies weather a recession and use it to ransack countries, becsuse smaller/mid-size companies are struggling to do the bare minimum, outright shut down, or cannot start up to begin with.

There's a lot of moving parts that makes it really hard for ethical newcomers to disrupt in these current times. And that's just one angle.

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

#593

Post by mindcrash »

Now do a analysis on everything else, including the smart fridge in the kitchen.

Or what I am trying to say: Everybody has devices which have the potential to spy on you.

Unless your first name is Richard, only travel with open source hardware and software, and you have to ask someone to lend you a phone if you want to call someone even when you are at home.

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

#594

Post by judge2020 »

pennomi wrote: post #462
dillutedfixer wrote: post #382

As an owner of 2 LG OLEDs, I am not surprised at all. I neutered these things the first day I was past the return policy. Opened the back and unplugged the WiFi/BT chip, bought a cheap dumb universal remote with no mic in it, disagreed to all T&C in the TV, updated the firmware via USB and just use an AppleTV over HDMI for streaming. Kind of silly to have to go through all of this but hey thats where we are in 2026 i…

Whether or not you iPhone is also doing that is irrelevant. Two surveillance pathways is still inherently worse than one.

Idk, I have a strong feeling Apple is not doing ACR or covert recording themselves, and the OS provides some strong guarantees that you know when the mic is active.

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

#595

Post by Joel_Mckay »

anonu wrote: post #589

Can this be blocked with DNS / firewalls? Anyone done any work on that? Is there a DNS setting in LG? Could it be as simple as switching to a local DNS server on your network running nextdns.io?

Unfortunately, "AI" speech to text loggers can run a long time before it ever runs out of memory. Every time you have to update the TV software, a few MiB of your data is sent.

The issue is a lot of the TV traffic is encrypted, and given the other issues reported it likely gets a lot worse for privacy advocates. Air-gaps don't necessarily guarantee anything either. =3

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

#596

Post by nuxi »

lazystone wrote: post #121
prmph wrote: post #88

Just don't buy a smart TV. Buy a good "dumb" TV (or just get a good large monitor), then hook it up to a set top box (with TV capabilities as needed).

"Just a good large monitor" costs a fortune. If anyone could recommend any dumb TV with good panels in EU, you're more than welcome.

I have a 43" Philips Ambilight (43PUS8510, 4K QLED). It's not a dumb TV per se, but you don't have to use any of the smart features, and - most important - you don't have to connect it to a network.

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

#597

Post by daemin »

korzinka wrote: post #107

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!

Doesn't HDMI have built in Ethernet these days? So any HDMI cable of a certain specification is also a network cable.

I remember these things being discussed a while ago on here, how TVs use their own hard coded DNS ("for safety") rather than any network provided DNS (to avoid filtered DNS ala PiHole), how there's Ethernet in a HDMI cable, how other wireless networks are tried, and how eventually they'll go the car route and just embed a wireless modem in the device.

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

#598

Post by hdgvhicv »

FractalParadigm wrote: post #572
godelski wrote: post #539

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On top of that, the first few minutes of the video suggests it captures your neighbors' device and IP information. I'm sure the ToS has some BS about you being required to inform any guests, but what if your TV is just recording your neighbors because they are close enough? Just wait, I'm sure the "solution" will be that TVs start displaying reminders that you're being recorded... Is our inability to innovate in tech…

Re. The last paragraph, that's what confuses me the most about all of this. LG has virtually held a monopoly of the entire OLED TV market for the past ~15 years, selling (arguably) one of the TVs on the market and being the only thing I've recommended people buy in about as long. They could have done literally nothing but update the hardware every other year with a newer SoC, HDMI version, etc. and done just fine. No…

THe phrase is “leaving money on the table”

Pure naked greed, something to be celebrated in our Ferengi style capitalist system.

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

#599

Post by hdgvhicv »

jeffbee wrote: post #563
mey wrote: post #537

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do guests/children/people in public spaces consent to it? It's a gross violation.

Of what? This can only be evaluated in the context of wherever you live. In most of America recording sounds "in public" is a broadly protected activity because that's what "in public" means. You can only get in trouble for this if you violate another person's reasonable expectation of privacy.

Watching a TV that doesn’t watch you back is a reasonable expectation of privacy, and has been since 1984 was written.

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

#600

Post by hdgvhicv »

ryandrake wrote: post #431
account42 wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly why this keeps happening. If I bug your house I'd be charged with all kinds of crimes. If LG does it at scale nothing happens.

We need to climb two very difficult hills for there to be any change here: 1. We need our governments to actually start charging companies with crimes, when what they are doing would be illegal for an individual to do, and 2. We need the penalties to be something other than fines, which are ultimately treated by companies as routine costs of business.

If the fine is higher than the revenue they get from it then that would presumably work.
Post reply on HN