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

Post by mitxela » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 11:16 PM UTC

phony-account wrote: post #589

Animats wrote: post #571

Here are LG's contract terms for appliances.[1] They are awful. Not only can they listen in. You have a contractual requirement to tell everyone in range of an appliance that they may be eavesdropped upon. CONSENT REQUIREMENT: You acknowledge and agree that it is your sole responsibility to obtain all necessary consents from any third parties whose voices may be captured by the Product and to notify household members…

And yet what lawmakers focused on was getting your consent for a cookie on a website you were only going to visit once.

Post by mitxela » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC

tosti wrote: post #585

devmor wrote: post #449

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My apartment complex came to install keypads and centrally managed smart thermostats and I would not let them. Thankfully my lease was old enough that I was able to argue against it. I don’t want a 3rd party company tracking my habits, and I don’t want some manager boiling my pets alive while I’m gone because they decided they think our AC is set too low.

You got lucky. If you've got an apartment in, say, a healthcare facility, they'll install those thermostats and whatnot. Usually the neighbours are clueless about technology so complaining doesn't get very far at all. It's even worse if some staff wrote paranoid in your file, 'cause they'll argue it's good for "exposure".

Post by mitxela » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 11:26 PM UTC

II2II wrote: post #522

Sophira wrote: post #175

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.

> I find that they're often the only thing that will be truthful about a company's intentions. Really? Many years ago, I had to physically sign a license with Microsoft to obtain some software. The license was not consistent with the license included with the software. Both licenses effectively said they were the real license and that any other agreement you made with Microsoft was not valid. I don't think there was…

Post by mitxela » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 11:27 PM UTC

opello wrote: post #533

ProllyInfamous wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still nervously holding my breath for the first disclosure that a TV manufacturer is using Amazon's distributed Sidewalk Network (or perhaps mobile vehicles, cell-SIMs, LoRa) to remotely gather all that viewing data they've subsidized into your artificially-low TV purchase price . But they've been calling "crazy?" for decades.

This exactly. Surely some sort of IoT mesh networking will allow exfiltration of data even without having configured your own device. I'm hopeful that there will be sufficient distrust that "jailbreaking" or "rooting" TV controller boards will be turnkey enough to move to something like OpenWrt or GrapheneOS but for TVs.

Post by Melatonic » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 11:29 PM UTC

theshrike79 wrote: post #318

ezst wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This. Why would you even connect TV to the network? I happen to have a NAS with family pictures I like to display. I can (and do) firewall that thing, but then you hit other issues like the apps you need to show pictures and movies in the first place not to install/run. I've yet to hear of a reasonable recipe to isolate and secure such connected TVs. And don't get me started on Chromecast or other Android dongles,…

Apple TV is the best one. No ads, full OS updates for a long time.