Disconnect your LG television from the internet, now

hharambae about 1 hour ago 29 commentsRead Article on appleinsider.com

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Discussion (29 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

mitxela•11 minutes ago

Disconnecting it from the internet isn't enough, because it will store spying data forever until it gets a connection, and it will connect to any open WiFi. You have to disconnect it from the power, and then use a sledgehammer on the remains.

nosioptar•5 minutes ago

I'd rather open it up and remove/destroy just the network card.

(I don't have to do so though because my tv is 20 years old.)

mitxela•5 minutes ago

What if the network isn't on a separate card?

nosioptar•2 minutes ago

That'd be the time to grab your hammer, baseball bat, or shotgun.

hi_hi•41 minutes ago

I guess this is unavoidable on today’s internet, but…reading a story that decries the (admittedly really bad) data gathering techniques of an advertiser, from a site that itself is plastered with adverts…I don’t know the right word here, but it feels a bit shit.

Although I’m glad this is getting the visibility it deserves. I hope this hurts LG where it matters and sends a signal to other manufacturers, but I doubt it.

dabinat•23 minutes ago

My TVs (Samsung) are the only devices on my network that are locked down and quarantined. But I wonder if there will come a day when TVs contain cellular or satellite modems so you can’t block the telemetry.

WhyNotHugo•2 minutes ago

Some brands have TVs share Wi-Fi with each other, so even if you don't connect it to Wi-Fi, your neighbour's TV will silently share with yours.

luqtas•3 minutes ago

> a day when TVs contain cellular or satellite modems so you can’t block the telemetry

finally my startup of faraday-cage rooms will boom /j

robinpie•12 minutes ago

Stuff like smart TVs always go in their own VLAN on my home network. Not because I don't trust the manufacturer, but I cannot be bothered to babysit some Android device on my LAN that I'll keep using years after end-of-support.

freediddy•10 minutes ago

How is this legal? Can't we sue them or get the FTC against them? This seems like a ridiculous amount of spying, even if their TOS says so. That seems like exploiting complexity of TOS to let them spy on everyone.

I'm pretty sure that these TVs won't respect WIFI passwords and if you enter a wifi password in once, it will just remember it even when you clear it, and it will try to connect to the internet that way.

svlasov•8 minutes ago

[delayed]

lrvick•9 minutes ago

It is a screen. You plug an HDMI cable into your source device and another into the TV. Job done.

Are there really that many people technical enough to know what an HDMI cable is without also knowing all TVs are subsidized by spyware with no security protections?

Why would anyone connect a screen to the internet in the first place?

Like, if suddenly computer monitors started asking for wifi credentials would everyone just compulsively punch them in just to see ads and give the manufacturers lots of data just because?

I must be fundamentally disconnected from how consumers think about technology.

em-bee•2 minutes ago

why would i want to have a second box to play my content when i can have it all in one. HDMI cables can only be so long before they get in the way. connecting the TV to a fileserver via wifi is awfully convenient. i also want to play stuff from my phone or my laptop (which is to far away to connect via cable)

so yeah, i totally want a wireless TV screen that is able to connect with all the devices in my house. but it's kind of difficult to achieve that without letting the TV access the internet. (most home routers do not support blocking internet access to specific devices)

soared•6 minutes ago

TVs have streaming services, those need internet to function.

What else does anyone (average consumer) use their TV for? I don’t want a separate device to plug in and remote just to stream things.

freediddy•7 minutes ago

All TVs offer extra functionality like connecting to Netflix, Disney+, HBO etc. It obviates the need for an extra device like Roku or Apple TV.

jeffbee•6 minutes ago

> Why would anyone technical ever connect a TV to the internet in the first place?

You must be...

> I must be fundamentally disconnected from how consumers think about technology.'

Right.

wmf•16 minutes ago

Dupe of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49592375

scosman•17 minutes ago

Reminder: you can connect it to your network, but block it from the internet at the router. That way you can still use Airplay/Chromecast.

I have an LG. Great OLED panel. It's never seen the internet.

ed_mercer•39 minutes ago

Why would you ever connect a TV to the internet in the first place?

goshx•5 minutes ago

Ever heard of netflix, youtube, disney+, paramount, hulu, etc?

solid_fuel•13 minutes ago

How do you know that not connecting it is sufficient to stop the spying?

There are a few large IoT-focused networks like Amazon Sidewalk where conceivably the smart TV could connect to them if you don't connect it to your home wifi. I believe many ISPs like Xfinity also runs shared public wifi from their routers - a tv could connect via your neighbor's ISP-provided router and you wouldn't have any idea.

sgarland•33 minutes ago

Most non-techie people I know have a smart TV without an external streaming box like an Apple TV, Nvidia Shield, Roku, etc.

voxelghost•32 minutes ago

Because it is a 'smart Tv', and it asks to get connected to the internet during setup?

That being said, I have an old LG Tv (pre-android, forget what they call the os), and I never connected it, opting instead to hook up a firetv stick .... (who knows what bad crap they might be up to btw).

But the point is, we are a minority, most people go the path of least resistance.

jeffbee•7 minutes ago

Did you mean pre-webOS? As far as I know LG TVs have never run Android.

fhub•22 minutes ago

1. Onboarding tells you to

2. Convenience

3. Cheaper than buying an Apple TV et al

jeffbee•8 minutes ago

A pretty silly thing to ask. I can control my LG OLED TV from the YouTube and YouTube Music apps on my phone, as well as other apps, but the way that works is the apps hand off the stream parameters to the TV, they don't actually proxy the stream to the TV, which would have all kinds of drawbacks. The TV also comes out of the box or within 1 click of having the apps of popular services like Prime Video, Netflix, Apple TV+, Hulu, HBO/Max, Peacock, etc etc all of them they're just lightweight javascript applications.

buckle8017•32 minutes ago

The average person's house has a gateway/router/wifi thing from their ISP, a smart tv connected to the internet with microphones, and one of those iptv piracy boxes that's actually the source of all the residential proxy ips.

Convenience over all else is what 99% of people are doing.

mitxela•29 minutes ago

Residential proxying seems a good trade for piracy to me. However, there's a chance it will attract attention of some authority, who (although proxying itself is legal) will see your piracy box and arrest you for piracy. However, this doesn't seem to happen in practice, perhaps because residential proxying is so common.

readthenotes1•33 minutes ago

Because not everyone wants to buy a tv and a Roku or similar device.

bitwize•17 minutes ago

Sceptre dumb TV bros still winning