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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'

#281

Post by fsuts »

juiceland wrote: post #125
xethos wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

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…

Which paragraph?

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

#282

Post by albumen »

rr808 wrote: post #248

Everyone complains but realistically TVs are so incredibly cheap now, I can't believe anyone would make money from hardware alone. I mean a Samsung 55in 4k tv for $300 delivered for free is crazy, let alone the $179 insignia one.

Yes. The Gamers Nexus video points out that in some cases LG makes more money from selling your behaviour to ad partners, than on the hardware itself.

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

#283

Post by GrinningFool »

HPsquared wrote: post #184
seemaze wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who hasn’t owned a television in decades, why would a TV even need a microphone in the first place? How many other household devices have a microphone whose primary function is orthogonal to recording audio?

Voice recognition is really useful when searching. It's annoying to type with a TV remote. Also you can just say what you want like "play breaking bad on Netflix" and it'll just do it. Edit: also the mic in the remote has a function to calibrate the speakers to the room (correcting for the impulse response of the room basically) which can make the audio much better.

Since you're using it for Netflix, etc I assume it has unrestricted Internet access. With that and microphone access, you're giving tacit permission to capture and upload basically whatever it wants, to whoever it wants.

That seems unwise, no matter how helpful the features are.

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

#284

Post by 3eb7988a1663 »

dylan604 wrote: post #197
Wistar wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Shazam app on my wife’s iPhone can identify TV shows and movies very quickly, sometimes nearly instantly. Not sure how it does that.

TV shows are completed and in the can well before air date. It is entirely plausible that the interested party in having the content identifiable by Shazam like services submit whatever needs to be submitted for new content

I have also wondered about the possibility of media emitting some kind of hidden identifier. Can normal speakers emit noise outside of human hearing that could contain a unique id? Would not even need to be a lot of data that could be broadcast.

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

#285

Post by nubinetwork »

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…

And Steve says LG is full of shit. Thanks Steve. https://youtu.be/ToP9xfLDSME

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

#287

Post by a34729t »

fsuts wrote: post #277
mitxela wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Wrong. They claim it doesn't record video. Recording means saving permanently - live processing is not recording. ACR is processing the video output live. Notice what they don't say at all. ACR is just one type of spying. A completely separate feature records wha…

Exactly, otherwise LG legal would be threatening the authors to publish an apology or be sued.

If they aren't suing they are guilty as hell. Even if they were only most guilty they would sue; their legal dept knows they have no legs to stand on.

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

#288

Post by cwmoore »

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…

Is it within fair use to surreptitiously record copyrighted music?

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

#289

Post by imoverclocked »

ryandrake wrote: post #252
cogman10 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

To me, it's not even about why they're doing it (building an advertising profile). I don't want them doing it at all, for any reason. When I buy something from the store, my relationship is between me and the store, for the 30 seconds it takes for me to pay for it. I don't want an ongoing relationship with the device manufacturer. I don't want to be tethered in any way to the manufacturer. I don't want to have an acc…

Then what about all the cloud enabled spyware? How would that work? (/sarcasm)

Truly though, smart-home stuff runs the whole gamut of privacy and device manufacturer relationships. eg: I have used three different smart/room AC units:

- one requires its own cloud-enabled app for any remote connectivity, no HomeKit integration - one integrates with HomeKit but then leaves an upgrade hint that can only be done through an app with a login - one integrates with HomeKit and pretty much just works

HomeKit then allows me to remotely control via HomePod/AppleTV acting as a router ... of course this is just a different cloud connectivity but with on-premises devices controlling other on-premises devices.

For each manufacturer of smart devices, there is potentially a separate cloud where data is being funneled through. Some devices support multiple upstreams.

I get that Matter should be a way to fix it but the reality feels more like https://xkcd.com/927/

Part of me just wants dumb devices back. Get rid of buttons on a microwave (just give me a knob for time and maybe another knob for power setting.) Remove touchscreens from cars (mine glares at me with certain sun-angles.) Bring back the desktop/computer hutch and phones that don't live in your pocket. However, having the ability to start cooling my bedroom 45 minutes before I arrive home is ... pretty compelling too.

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

#290

Post by fortran77 »

grvbck wrote: post #214
prasadjoglekar wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's how things were always done. The content from broadcasters has/had audio watermarks...frequencies which humans can't hear.

As far as I know, watermarks never took off because the technical complexity and lack of standardization. Nielsen researched and developed ACR technology but it never required watermarks. When Nielsen first started collecting data (1950s), they handed out diaries to a group of around 5 000 selected households. Nielsen would then collect these diaries and extrapolate viewing patterns across the entire population. Afte…

A long time ago (~1998) I did some consulting for VEIL and Neilson was definitely talking to them...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Encoded_Invisible_Light

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