A new Gamers Nexus investigation found a retail LG TV actively scanning the local network for phones, laptops, smartwatches and other connected devices, while also capturing microphone audio when the screen appeared to be in standby. The investigation found voice data being stored locally even after the TV was disconnected from the network, with the queued data uploaded once connectivity returned. Researchers also uncovered webOS vulnerabilities that could potentially turn the television into a remotely controlled surveillance device. The really unsettling part isn’t just the advertising angle. It’s the fact that a consumer television can sit inside your trusted network, enumerate other devices, access a microphone, store collected data locally and communicate with external infrastructure. Put that same device in a corporate office, hospital, hotel or conference room and the security implications become considerably more serious. I went through the investigation in detail, including the network scanning, microphone behavior, ACR, webOS attack surface, offline data collection and practical mitigations
Never connected my TV to the internet, just have a mini pc running instead, so much easier
All smart tvs are spying. Putting pressure on one brand is fine because it might pressure at least one of them to start making dumb TVs again.
The video is supposed to be the first in a series, where they intend to look into other brands as well.
The video yes, every single follow up article only mentions LG
I want my TV to be smart, I just don’t want it to be spying on me.
If there’s a device that has a computer in it that I cannot control the operating system off, it does not get any outside connection. No exceptions. Be it the car, the TV, the e-reader or whatever else.
In the video he talks about how some models will auto connect to open WiFi if there’s one nearby, I also wouldn’t be shocked if it’s a ring camera situation where if there’s another LG device with a connection in range of yours without, it will piggyback off that connection to ensure LG gets the info. They own the glass, they own the living room.
This is obviously the result of razor thin margins from competition on price, so they needed find evil ways to show growth for investors.
Do the two tier pricing model like amazon did with kindle. $50-100 cheaper for the NSA model. More expensive one for people with >2 braincells
Luckily, all of this shit is illegal in the EU.
Yes true. Also, the processor they put inside even on the highest end TVs are a joke. Slow af. This is one of the reasons why many opt for an Apple TV or a Fire TV or any good Android box just because they are so much faster
But at the end of the day, it seems a bit of a stopgap- all you need is a bad fiscal quarter or new ceo. I have seen streaming servers and they all look sketchy as fk. Are there safe generic, external streaming device ones folks could buy or make ?
A laptop running your favorite flavor of Linux is the best streaming device you can have.
Unless you want appletv+, Disney+, Netflix etc at 4k 60
I’ve heard those names in port over the years, matey
I’d rather not pay for any of them.
Me either. But nevertheless Linux needs mainstream support
Unfortunately no generic ones are safe. All run sketchy services under the hood. If you want android then go for google tv streamer. Else fire tv but that has its own fair share of issues. The best is apple tv but that requires you to have an iPhone. Last option is raspberry pi with LibreElec or you can even run android on it with the TV UI and everything
“Welcome to the Machine” —Pink Floyd.





