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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]

#851

Post by bbor »

adithyassekhar wrote: post #849
bbor wrote: post #819

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone confirm this part of it? I'm highly, highly dubious that these TVs are sending back random ambient conversation -- for one thing, it would be a truly monstrously-huge stream of data, no? I certainly believe that it sends back data when you use voice commands, ofc (both for advertising and product improvement). But this would be the first real case of something that's been a 100% false conspiracy theory fo…

It is in the video at 36:40 https://youtu.be/6IFVTcM28KA?t=2199

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

#852

Post by klausa »

dylan604 wrote: post #346
Angostura wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mine is still attached to the network, but I’ve turned off all the ad/customisation &AI stuff. Seems to work fine, no ads etc. though usually I’m using it simply as a screen for the AppleTV. I do have it isolated from other devices on my network, though.

If you're only using it as a screen for the AppleTV, why connect it to the network at all?

So I can turn it on/off using Home Assistant and my phone.

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

#853

Post by onecommentman »

xxs wrote: post #452
pixel_popping wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's insane, but it's not like it's not known, personally, each time we have a party at home with friends, we always unplug the TV for this reason, it's out of doubt but it's normal to doubt as it's proprietary and has a microphone, so it's a bit obvious that it might be recording and processing data somewhere. The same as I would never trust an average phone around if I'm having a private conversation. Blackbox+Mic…

A note => any speaker works as microphone. When I was a kid we used vacuum tube radio both as a passive speaker and a microphone... connected to the speakerphone of a telephone as a very poor man walkie-talkie. Using the speakers as microphone when there is no outgoing sounds is pretty trivial in that regard. I don't know how paranoid a person can be, though.

Depends on how deep you want to climb down that rabbit hole. You can go all Rusty Shackleford if you’re a privacy enthusiast. It can be fun.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_%28codename%29

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

#854

Post by garciansmith »

charcircuit wrote: post #639
Animats wrote: post #572

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…

It just reads as legal boilerplate. How else can voice recognition listen for a wake word without being able to process everything it hears.

Keep all the processing on device? Do so in a way that is legal in the jurisdiction you are selling the devices in without claiming it's the owner's responsibility to get consent from all individuals (even if they cannot legally consent because they are, say, a child!?) to comply with wiretapping laws in their own home? Choose not to sell an object that comes with software made to spy on you and sell all it learns to advertisers?

That fact that you read something like this as acceptable "legal boilerplate" just shows how, very sadly in my opinion, invasions of privacy have been normalized by these corporations.

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

#855

Post by voxelghost »

jeffbee wrote: post #767
voxelghost wrote: post #746

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it is a 'smart Tv', and it asks to get connected to the internet during setup? That being said, I have an old LG Tv (pre-android, forget what they call the os), and I never connected it, opting instead to hook up a firetv stick .... (who knows what bad crap they might be up to btw). But the point is, we are a minority, most people go the path of least resistance.

Did you mean pre-webOS? As far as I know LG TVs have never run Android.

Yeah you are right, dont know where I got the idea that they had switched to Android after I bought mine in the 2020s

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

#856

Post by duped »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #584
duped wrote: post #512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The alternative is inconvenient and more expensive. And most people simply don't care.

We don't really have alternatives, period. LG is the one in the news today, but pretty much any TV this decade has been doing similar things. Computer monitors max out at 32 inches and the idea of a modern dumb TV is non-existent.

I meant alternatives to connecting your TV directly to the internet. As in "why would you ever connect your TV to the internet?" is a stupid question - "because I want to watch things on the internet." And it's not like a roku, firetv, or chrome cast dongle is much different (and Apple TV is $200, normal people don't add 20-50% the cost of their TV to do something built in).

> the idea of a modern dumb TV is non-existent.

They're sold as commercial display panels/digital signage and because they're a business product that isn't subsidized by advertising/spyware they cost a good bit more. But the panels and controls are basically identical to high end TVs.

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

#857

Post by BLKNSLVR »

stronglikedan wrote: post #827
lanerobertlane wrote: post #652

Earlier quoted context omitted.

tempted to go into my nearest big box electronics store and then sue them when they don't tell me the LG tv's they have on display are eavesdropping on me.

they already have audio video surveillance signs posted everywhere from the moment you walk in so that would go over like a lead balloon

Ask them if the TVs come with the necessary and relevant audio surveillance signs.

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

#858

Post by keane »

claaams wrote: post #659
bjt wrote: post #630

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These (and other TOS agreements) fall under the category of "adhesion contracts". Because the buyer has no real ability to negotiate, any ambiguity is resolved in their favor. A judge can also strike provisions that a reasonable buyer would not expect, or that are unconscionable. So it's up to the judge's judgment. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/adhesion-contract.asp

The cool thing is that they make you go into forced arbitration rather than through the legal system.

^claim to — this type of legalese (shrink wrap, clickwrap, liability waivers, etc.) is a bluff (when in doubt: sue)

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

#859

Post by digi59404 »

gruez wrote: post #822
digi59404 wrote: post #808

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Samsung fridge. It’s not a smart fridge, it doesn’t have a screen, bluetooth, or any way to connect to it. I logged into my UniFi stack to monitor devices and it showed up. It had gotten the connection details from my wife’s phone, the other Samsung device and was transmitting data back to Google and Samsung.

The far more likely explanation is that your unifi dashboard's device identification logic is broken and is misreporting the device. Otherwise it doesn't make sense for samsung to engage it a massive conspiracy of putting wifi hardware in non-smart devices (driving up the BOM cost), creating a massive botnet that can share credentials between devices, all so they can... maybe run a residential proxy network? Then sub…

It’s really not that far fetched. What led me to investigate was that I got a Samsung 49” smart monitor, my wife left the kitchen door open and it displayed alerts on my monitor.

UniFi is not misrepresenting the device ID; while you’re right that happens. It didn’t here.

The Mac ID is 1c:e8:9e:3d:c4:ad and is registered to SJIT who makes IOT Devices Samsung and smart fridges.

I appreciate your skepticism, but the device is still connected to my WiFi. It has been since 2024, the Mac ID has not changed nor has its identification. I’ve also done packet tracing to determine it IS in fact the smart fridge.

As for the “clandestine hardware to non-smart fridges”. Streamlining of production lines is nothing new. Being able to datamine people’s networks is worth the 20$ hardware chip.

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

#860

Post by cameldrv »

stronglikedan wrote: post #827
lanerobertlane wrote: post #652

Earlier quoted context omitted.

tempted to go into my nearest big box electronics store and then sue them when they don't tell me the LG tv's they have on display are eavesdropping on me.

they already have audio video surveillance signs posted everywhere from the moment you walk in so that would go over like a lead balloon

They have video surveillance signs. Audio is a different category in a lot of states. In California, it's illegal to record audio without consent of all of the parties, and I believe you can get a civil remedy of $5000 for this.
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