LG's recent software update has forcibly installed Microsoft Copilot, an AI assistant, on smart TVs without removal options, sparking widespread user backlash over privacy, bloatware, and loss of control. This highlights growing tensions in smart devices, where monetization often overrides user preferences.
I know it’s not a fix all
But a Pi-hole prevents a lot of this collected data from ever leaving your network to begin with.
If for some reason someone turns on the wifi on my LG tv (I have teenagers and their friends), I have the device itself blacklisted from the network.
But that’s not a reasonable level of granularity for a typical user. We need privacy protection laws to end this sort of behavior from manufacturers.
Could not possibly agree more.
These companies need to be held accountable.
There are ways to keep yourself somewhat safe for now.
Good luck getting either party to do so with the amount of corporate money thrown their way. :/ You might be able to shout at the Dems to do something but it’ll be a half measure of allowing an opt out system.
Yeah, my smart TVs are the noisiest devices on my network, by far. In a day of heavy usage where I’m doomscrolling and constantly scrolling past ads, my phone may log ~2500 blocked requests. My Roku and Samsung TVs both average around 7000 blocked requests per day, even when we haven’t used them at all. That’s a request to their data-harvesting and ad servers getting blocked every ~12 seconds, even when they’ve been turned “off” all day.