LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true' • Hacker News Board

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#91

Post by ygjb » Sat, Sep 12, 2026, 5:40 PM UTC

tmpz22 wrote: post #56

ygjb wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are lots of good reasons that are used to paper over the abuse cases. Microphones in tvs are a useful accessibility feature when they enable voice commands for the user, and allow them to be used as voice assistants. They also enable tvs with a camera and microphone to be used as video calling or audio calling interfaces. Used well we get star Trek view screens, used poorly we get little brother monitoring. For…

> Microphones in tvs are a useful accessibility feature Made nearly moot by the presence of microphones in most (all?) modern remotes. I say nearly moot because its worth noting the ability to operate a physical remote may itself be prohibitive to some. So in effect, there are a multitude microphones in a modern LG environment.

a tv may be the only shared device in low income homes.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#92

Post by dang » Sat, Sep 12, 2026, 5:40 PM UTC

Recent and related:

LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49612329 - Sept 2026 (359 comments)

GamersNexus and LG: Or why rooting your TV is a bad idea - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49605424 - Sept 2026 (133 comments)

A Screensaver for LG's Spying Smart TVs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49605356 - Sept 2026 (13 comments)

LG TVs aren't the only ones spying on you [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49575176 - Sept 2026 (18 comments)

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#93

Post by roscas » Sat, Sep 12, 2026, 5:41 PM UTC

initramfs wrote: post #59

initramfs wrote: post #51

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-KgX9xyIRK8 "Can the CIA really spy on your phone?" He mentions TV and while it's off.

by the way, Intel's Quark chip is installed at least 3 times on each chipset and can run on a Minix OS when plugged in to the power and off: from: https://web.archive.org/web/20201201175708/http://blog.ptsec... Highly efficient" is 25mW at 33MHz. According to the Wikipedia page, it can run even when the PC is off but plugged in or connected to battery. an ARM Cortex M0-4 will use even less power in idle. All it needs…

People worried about LG. Use Android, iOS and Windows. Use Facebook and TikTok! Use WhatApp and get shocked TikTok keeps all data, video, images, text and reads it. Same as WhatsApp. Drive a Tesla. Have that Ring on the door and other devices.

Go figure. People are strange.

And yes, that ME and PSP are on every cpu since I can't remember, Thinkpad T60 was probably one of the last ones without spy tech.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#94

Post by nottorp » Sat, Sep 12, 2026, 5:42 PM UTC

dd8601fn wrote: post #65

klausa wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just straight up false. OLED productions costs have fallen, and the yields have gotten better — displays of all kinds have gotten cheaper, not just TVs; OLEDs have started showing up in products they haven’t before for cost reasons, etc. The manufacturers make some profit on the data they harvest, sure; but the biggest BOM costs of TVs have definitely also dropped sharply.

The margin on tvs is slim. Companies like Vizio make vastly more on the ads and data than they do on the tvs. Some quarters they even take a loss. They took a $7m bath on hardware while booking about $120m on ads and data. We’re never getting good tv’s back. It’s only going to get worse. Now they’re starting in on monitors. The only lifeline would be consumer protection, which obviously won’t happen in the US.

> Some quarters they even take a loss.

They have good accountants isn’t it?

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#95

Post by ethagnawl » Sat, Sep 12, 2026, 5:43 PM UTC

Koshcheiushko wrote: post #79

I've one question: I've used android phone (realme, which is chinese). And i remember that whenever we used to discuss somethings among our friends, i started used to get ads realated to that on my laptop, phone within atmost a hour. So, was realme transcribing all conversations and uploading it? Can someone answer?

People always dismiss this as FUD but it's been happening to me more than ever. I know in many cases it is more likely that firms are acquiring purchase histories and location data but that doesn't explain other incidents.

For example, last week I was complaining to my spouse about shoulder pain and how I was afraid I may need another surgery. YouTube has suddenly starting flooding my feed with videos about "shoulder exercises to avoid surgery." I hadn't searched any of those terms, purchased anything or visited an orthopedic, so I don't know what else could possibly explain it.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#96

Post by cyanydeez » Sat, Sep 12, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC

rpdillon wrote: post #18

LG's statement: > ACR uses audio fingerprinting technology using the TV’s internal audio processor (not a speaker) to identify content and does not collect screenshots, screen recordings, video recordings, voice recordings, or other audio recordings from the TV. So they are claiming that ACR is done entirely through audio processing, and no visual data from the screen itself is used? That...doesn't seem plausible. Th…

this is clearly an "anonymization" claim.

What is anonymous: we record all the hashs from all the programs people are watching to identify people watching the same thing.

What is not anonymous: we hash all the content in the world, along with hashing the content people are watching, and reconstruct what they watched.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#97

Post by Simulacra » Sat, Sep 12, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC

So very strange every time I visit Tomshardware.com, I get a pop-up on my iPhone that asked me "Do you want to download "sync-pixel" on "usync.ingage.tech"?

What is that? And why does it only happen on that website?

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#98

Post by IanCal » Sat, Sep 12, 2026, 5:47 PM UTC

cogman10 wrote: post #62

rpdillon wrote: post #18

LG's statement: > ACR uses audio fingerprinting technology using the TV’s internal audio processor (not a speaker) to identify content and does not collect screenshots, screen recordings, video recordings, voice recordings, or other audio recordings from the TV. So they are claiming that ACR is done entirely through audio processing, and no visual data from the screen itself is used? That...doesn't seem plausible. Th…

> So they are claiming that ACR is done entirely through audio processing, and no visual data from the screen itself is used? That...doesn't seem plausible. It's probably easier to do and every bit as accurate as just using a screenshot. And it's still exactly what I don't want them doing. There's literally zero reason for LG to be building an advertising profile on me because I was foolish enough to buy one of their…

It’s a lot less data to process as well.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#99

Post by xethos » Sat, Sep 12, 2026, 5:48 PM UTC

NooneAtAll3 wrote: post #86

rpdillon wrote: post #18

LG's statement: > ACR uses audio fingerprinting technology using the TV’s internal audio processor (not a speaker) to identify content and does not collect screenshots, screen recordings, video recordings, voice recordings, or other audio recordings from the TV. So they are claiming that ACR is done entirely through audio processing, and no visual data from the screen itself is used? That...doesn't seem plausible. Th…

> ACR uses audio fingerprinting technology so they aren't even denying listening in on everything?

"Everything" would include the microphone, both in the remote and the TV. They're claiming to split off the audio, with one path going to the speakers (and there to your ears), and the other path being hashed (and from there to LG).

They still claim to get your media's audio, but deny using the microphones.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#100

Post by isodev » Sat, Sep 12, 2026, 5:49 PM UTC

aeternum wrote: post #23

Note that their statement could also be true if they record 99% of the time. We need to start calling companies out for meaningless weasel statements like "We don't record continuously". The majority of the problem is also simply the ability to record. Putting a remote control listening hardware on a device that runs a plethora of 3rd party apps and with full connection to the internet means that even if LG isn't con…

> The majority of the problem is also simply the ability to record.

Exactly, and recent announcements like Apple normalising always on recording, even wrapped in “big promises” on privacy, deserve a lot more attention and strong regulation.