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

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

#261

Post by mitxela »

drdexebtjl wrote: post #190
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…

No, I think they’re saying two separate things: - ACR uses audio fingerprinting - ACR does not collect screen recordings Both can be true if the TV hashes the frames locally and ACR “collects” the hashes.

They're almost certainly being pedantic about what it means to "collect a recording".

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

#262

Post by mitxela »

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?

They're not denying anything about programs other than ACR. That's telling. They didn't say "your TV doesn't listen" or "your TV doesn't collect"

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

#263

Post by mitxela »

xethos wrote: post #99
NooneAtAll3 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

They deny ACR uses the microphones. Big difference. Nobody thought ACR used the microphones.

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

#264

Post by mitxela »

gruez wrote: post #151
juiceland wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they don’t use the microphones why do they have a statement in their Terms of Service to not say sensitive things in front of your TV? It says the TV owner is "solely responsible" for obtaining all necessary consents from third parties whose voices may be recorded by the device, and must warn household members and guests that their voices may be recorded, and if someone does not agree, the TV's microphone and voic…

>If they don’t use the microphones why do they have a statement in their Terms of Service to not say sensitive things in front of your TV? Other people have mentioned there's other voice features like diction/voice control, so it's plausibly for that.

That's probably the program that uploads everything you say then. Nobody thought the ACR was doing that.

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

#266

Post by ygjb »

wongarsu wrote: post #216
seemaze wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any useful resources for finding devices that don't have surveillance apparatus built in? I'm still not purchasing a television. The last thing I need is more screen time in my life.

You'd be looking for what's now called a "dumb tv". But those are getting rare, because TVs that can't sell your watch data have to be more expensive to make up for that, and that doesn't sell. Commercial screens are an option, as are computer monitors. Or getting a smart tv and never connecting it to the internet. So far nobody has started shipping TVs with a mobile connection to exfiltrate data, as far as we know.…

There are plans to build these networks at various stages. Putatively to enable connectivity, but in practice the tech creates a device to device mesh network that enables side channel communication over a secure mechanism that is not necessarily subject to use control.

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

#267

Post by MaxBarraclough »

dang wrote: post #92

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 one…

From Nov 2013, but still related:

LG Smart TVs logging USB filenames and viewing info to LG servers https://doctorbeet.blogspot.com/2013/11/lg-smart-tvs-logging...

HackerNews discussion (178 comments): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6759426

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

#268

Post by klvino »

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…

From reading other responses, it seems there is an assumption the image itself is fingerprinted. The digital content is encoded, there is essentially a barcode on your TV screen with lines running horizontally that you cannot see with the human eye. The encoding is picked up as the signal, it does not need to see or recognize if that is your favorite actress on the screen.

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

#269

Post by neom »

tadfisher wrote: post #156
neom wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good read: https://www.amitracked.com/learn/is-my-phone-listening-to-me

Absolutely not a good read. Informative, but it tortures the language, as is usual for slop.

I think, sadly, I'm becoming immune to slop because I (till now) believed I'm good at reading through LLM junk and that read quite normally to me. How annoying. My apologies.

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

#270

Post by [deleted] »

tredre3 wrote: post #256
cassianoleal wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In any case, "We don't record continuously" is still recording. They should not be recording at all!

Enough with the knee jerk reactions. They have to record in some cases. You don't have to like those features, but plenty of people want those features. - The television has voice control. - The television has a manually triggered speech-to-text feature so you don't have to type with tv remote.

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