alt Hacker NewsLG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby
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I wish there was some regulation that would force TVs to have a "dumb" mode. When the colors on our previous living room TV started to go out my dad ended up buying a new huge Vizio during black friday for really cheap. He left it to me to set up, since I'm the tech guy of the family, as you all probably understand.
I was surprised that the first thing I was prompted to do was to download an app and sign up for an account. The TV would not work unless I was signed in (or at the very least the option was so well hidden I didn't see one). Of course the sign up asks for PII like my name and phone number.
Vizio was bought out by Walmart a while back, with the intent of expanding Walmart's advertising empire.
It's really unfortunate that the TV market has ended up the way it has. My family still has a few CRTs going that have been working every day for decades, just turn it on and TV immediately starts playing. I miss that level of simplicity.
The fact they they can connect to Xfinity networks without consent is shocking too. For all those “just don’t connect the cable” responses, it still connects! And what happens when they go GSM?
Sure you can try to open up the box and yank the WiFi antenna… until it is so deeply integrated into the board that you cannot.
This isn’t just an “oh well” situation. This needs a law.
The Koreans are taking a huge risk destroying the trust they've built over the last 30 years with this incessant spying and adware. Both LG and Samsung are engaged in this and it could open the door to Chinese rivals like TCL and HiVision. Not because they're much better but because discoveries like these will leave a bad taste in people's mouth whenever they want to buy a new TV.
They need to put a stop to this or they'll start losing market share fast.
Can this spying and tracking be so lucrative that they'll risk alienating their customers over it?
Is there anyone who has done a technical write up and investigation into the firmwares?
Like reverse engineering how the software on the TVs work.
Also what third parties are involved.
I have a feeling there must be some third party vendor selling the same toolkit that manufacturers use.
Would be nice to figure out if it's possible to send junk data to the endpoints.
> In July this year, the channel flagged that some LG monitors were automatically installing an app that collected device data and ran pop-up ads for LG’s other apps and even McAfee antivirus. The public pressure from that video prompted an intervention from Microsoft, and ultimately led to LG disabling the pop-up ads.
Can anyone explain why Windows even makes this possible? I had to fight against Windows installing Alienware command center nonsense automatically because I have a "gaming" Dell OLED. Windows automatically fetched and installed it just from plugging in the monitor, adding a new system tray icon and persistent daemon with these kinds of annoying pop-ups and probably a bunch of security vulnerabilities.
It's completely incomprehensible to me. The monitor works great without it, on both Windows and Linux! I left a negative review on an otherwise good monitor as a result, but Microsoft shouldn't even be entertaining this crap.
Is there some way to jailbreak your tv and run som open source os on it? Or something like that?
Not exactly sure what I’m after, but the problem is acute and widely prevalent, so there has to be some solution.
All smart TVs should be disconnected from the internet. Use an AppleTV or similar.
this basically vindicates everyone who has a streaming account _and_ feels like everything they say "suddenly pops up in an online ad the next day"
These weaponized TVs are a threat to both national and international security.
To me this is where the EU MEPs should place their privacy concerns. Unless it ends up being another consent pop up on TVs.
I'll just throw this out here: https://www.webosbrew.org/rooting/
I believe I did have to connect it to the network to get it to some web page or other, but after that I had full control of it.
My LG TV is a bit older, though (2021 or so).
As someone who has never owned a TV and doesn’t know about this space, are there any TV manufacturers that are just a basic screen anymore?
We shouldn't need to, but the wifi PCB module in LG OLED TVs is typically attached by a ribbon cable that can be easily disconnected.
The Magic Remote can also be replaced with dumb IR model without a microphone.
I've said it before, but I wish a somewhat trustworthy organization would create a 'DUMB' certification - "Don't Upload My Bits".
Hardware switches would be plus in modern era. Not just for mics.
Just unplugged mine and set up a fire stick
What's the incentive for these manufacturers to do this?
Are they getting paid for the data (e.g. we'll pay you $100M to install spyware), or are they trying to be an ad platform, or is it simply analytics gone out of control?
Reminder that smart TV ids are part of California's DROP platform, and that you can (and should) request that all registered data brokers delete data associated with your television.
Are the WiFi cards on these TV like laptops or soldered on. I wonder if you can atleast disconnect the antenna or remove WiFi chip.
I'm confused, the article claims the TVs are uploading data when offline? That's is literally impossible. Are they using a different definition of offline from normal people?
More reason to stick with my monitor and Kodi.
Posted on a website where you can't read without subscribing... just like the video man! LG might be after money, but theverge is just the same lol.
Does this mean that TVs can never be recycled or resold now, adding to the garbage problem? All you have to do is sell the TV to someone who does eventually connect it to the internet and it will upload all the data it acquired while the previous owner had it?
I'm in the market for a good TV to pair with my PS5 Pro for GTA6.
What brand does not do scummy things like this, or that I can easily avoid by not requiring me to download an app to set up?
This is the reason why I allow certain mac addresses to communicate outside of my house. SonicWall makes it easy.
But I was reliably informed this never happens! (Reasons I own an NEC commercial display instead)
Ohh my this website is terrible on mobile
I doubt they are doing this in the EU. One GDPR request and they would be in a lot of trouble.
I don't mean to be dismissive, but isn't this old news? Hasn't it been the case that _all_ "smart" TVs have been spying on users since they came out? I've personally operated as if they are: my TV is not connected to the internet. At least, not through my internet connection. It's not on my wifi, nor is it connected to my LAN.
There have been quite a few submissions on this topic. The biggest one is:
216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49592375 - Sept 2026 (971 comments so far)
(Normally we'd merge this one thither but it's already so big maybe we'll just treat it as a follow-up)