An investigation by Gamers Nexus found LG smart TVs sweep local networks to map phones and nearby devices. Tests also showed the sets can capture microphone audio with the screen off — they then upload data once reconnected to the internet.
heres a youtube video of a guy converting his speaker into a microphone if you’re interested.
How to Convert a Speaker into a Dynamic Microphone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LroLf0c2fKM&t=5s
“We own the glass, we own the TV, we own the living room. We know who is in an LG home.” –LG President of Ads
These are the Gamers Nexus videos btw. Support them and their work. Get some cool shirts and physical media while you’re at it.
What is so dumb is he is banned from running a public company so they get him to run a private company. WTF the oligarchs are really this bad.
In most cases, its in a small enclosure or just screwed in. Its exactly like a NVME SSD, if youve built a computer before
Every day I’m grateful I bought a screen and not a “smart” TV
Suggestions for people who only need and want a good screen instead of an ad infested spy station?
Use them as such, why would you give your screen Internet? Attach a Mediacenter of your choice, e.g. Kodi.
Update firmware over USB.
you would think its as simple as that, but i have seen reports of lg automatically connecting to open networks if they are available
theres also the possibility of them adding some cellular transmitter in the future
maybe the only way is the desolder all the wireless antennas…
Faraday laminate around the antenna also.
LGs will find nearby wifi that will let them on to phone home. It doesn’t matter if your own network is locked down. And if they’re doing it, it’s likely others are as well.
Why? Why would I accept a device in my home that will snoop on me if I use it as intended?
Because if you want a screen of a certain size, there are no other reasonable options.
The same reason you might buy a phone that will spy on you and show you ads. You can’t buy a phone that doesn’t do that.
I think the point is they can’t upload anything if they’re not connected. Unfortunately, they’re some of the best OLED TVs right now in terms of the display
My TV is 15 years old and works fine. Getting the best TV out there is not very meaningful anymore.
I do understand that but I don’t think it’s something we should accept. Next thing these fuckers have their own 5G antenna and connect to mobile with zero config, then what, rip out the antenna or literally wrap it in tinfoil?
I agree. Don’t support what you don’t support. That being said, some people are ok with the trade-offs and that’s entirely up to them
Ironically LG still makes good screens. Just don’t ever connect their TVs to the network.
Edit: If you must connect it to a network connect it to a different VLAN (Guest network) with no other devices.
However their budget models (under $400) are very uncompetitive.
TCL and Hisense are much better at those, and you can disable Wi-Fi then plug in your own box.
It might be best to connect it to a network that just blackholes the traffic so it doesn’t go hunting for some open wifi.
If it’s like a lot of other devices, it will realize that it can’t get to “The Internet” through that network, and might disconnect. It’s possible it will then look for another option, and might see an open network and use it.
Can confirm. My LG C3 has never touched the internet (and never will) and it’s amazing.
Used commercial displays maybe.
I have a Samsung TV that I suspect does this. Once upon a time (back when I was less knowledgeable about this practice) I connected my TV to the internet. I have since been totally I able to forget my network from the TV, even a factory reset didn’t wipe the network settings from it. I’ve had to block it from the network at a router level.
I only discovered it was still doing this when I got a new router, and I had a popup on my TV saying “software update downloaded and complete” and I was wondering how tf it did that even though I’d gone through the process of forgetting the network, and seemingly the settings showed it had been “done”.
Shady fucks.
Checks out. I wish this was a conspiracy - but they got caught shaking hands w CIA. most people forgot
using US tech - either domestic or foreign; youre being spied by both marketers or governments. sad but true
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vault_7
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cia-hacked-samsung-smart-tvs-wikileaks-vault-7/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/07/cia-targeting-devices-smartphones-pc-tv-wikileaks
The CIA didn’t work with Samsung; they found a vulnerability in Samsung TVs then didn’t tell anyone about it.
Rip out the antenna.
Agreed, but, router block is far less work. 🤣
Right… Because it will only talk to your wireless router.
Genuine question…how else is it going to connect to the internet to upload data?
Your neighbor’s open wifi.
Yeah that’s fortunately not a problem for me lol
I just changed my SSIDs.
And that’s why I have a VLAN without outbound connections allowed. Still allows me to cast to the device from a separate vlan but the TV has no internet at all.
Seriously, this is the way. I did this too in about 15 mins. Also setup a simple rule to allow the vlan to reach my homeserver in a separate vlan specifically on Plex and Jellyfin ports. That’s it. They cant phone home. You still enjoy your own media.
Yeah if you setup the firewall correctly you can access the TV but the TV can’t access anything it self.
Did this a few month back. Then my Sony TV decided to hide all apps when it has no internet for a few weeks. I guess when the internal disk is filling up and it needs to phone home again. What a shit show!
So I had to connect again, but now https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spocky.projengmenu is running, to hopefully never be coerced to go online again.
Jellyfin ftw.
Yup. I did this with my Vizio TV and it worked great for a while. Then the TV started rebooting mutiple times a day. If i disconnect it from the WiFi or let it have full internet access the problem stops. It seems that their “Smartcast” app will crash and force a reboot if it can’t phone home when it wants.
I paid good money for this TV back when Vizio wss considered a good brand and I hate to retire it just for this, so I’ve given up my nice Home Assistant integrations and it’s just a disconnected dumb TV now. You can’t downgeade the firmware either so they’ve essentially killed the smart features for me. Should be illegal.
Life’s gulag.
Great, I wonder what my fridge is up to. It’s LG and has wifi for some reason. I never connected it to my network, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they take advantage of open networks anyway
I tested this when my LG fridge was new, and got a warning when I left the door open. Quite helpful. But still disabled.
The regular beeping speaker/piezo solves the same problem without WiFi or other shenanigans.
My LG fridge also beeps, as any other fridge would. I guess the added benefit is that it can send a notification to your phone, maybe useful in some scenarios, all it costs is your privacy…
I guess it’s time to start unplugging everything at the wall when not in use
accountablity? none. consequences? none (maybe a slap on the wrist at most)
Waiting for the “No idea how this happened! We’re sorry and promise to make this better in future versions” moment - instead of admitting that this is just their business model.
Hoping for prosecution from the EU and at least one other country.
from the EU and at least one other country.
EU is not a country.
Current Commission is pushing for chatcontrol so they’d probably applaud LG’s practices.
The EU is not a country, yet it does stuff that otherwise countries do, like legislating and judicating privacy laws. The correct term would have been “other political entity” but what is the point of that word picking again?
Like any political entity the EU can do many things at once, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Different institutions also have different interests. The Commission isn’t the primary driver behind chat control, a number of member states are. At the same time EU courts tend to be staunchly opposed to mass surveillance and in the European Parliament it depends on the party.
LOL
I knew someone would point that out.
“other” in this case is shorthand for “not in EU”.
Current Commission is pushing for chatcontrol so they’d probably applaud LG’s practices.
Just because they want to spy on you doesn’t mean they are okay with other organizations spying on you.
I’ll let the EU prove me wrong.
I’m hoping not only prosecution, but an actual outcome such that they (and other companies) are afraid to try this again.
If all they get is a small fine that’s just a business expense to them, then of course they’ll continue doing sh** like this.
How to fix your tv:
- open the tv
- remove the wifi chip and antennas
- remove the microphone
- cover the motherboard in fabric, then aluminium foil
- close the tv
- done
Unfortunately that will probably also void any warranty. Better to restrict access at the network level.
It shouldn’t be necessary or expected to perform surgical interventions on devices to make them respect privacy.
Why fabric and aluminium foil? Pretty sure removing microphones/cameras/bt modules is enough :p
Also, the foil wont do too much if you dont ground it!The fabric is to prevent it from accidentally shorting components. The foil is for a faraday cage.
Bring on the TV firmware. Jailbreak your consoles. Use Linux or steal windows and use tools to completely rip its spyware out of it (e.g. https://revi.cc/).
Custom firmware anywhere and everywhere a device that someone supports with custom firmware is a feature worth researching.
The fucks are only going to jeep doing it. Protect yourself. Push for GDPR like laws in the US. California’s privacy laws are headed in the right direction.
