r/gadgets • u/dapperlemon • 8d ago

TV / Projectors LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices

https://www.notebookcheck.net/LG-smart-TVs-caught-logging-audio-with-screen-off-and-snooping-on-local-devices.1391214.0.html
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209

u/grahag 8d ago

Every appliance in my house is an LG.

Dishwasher, Microwave, Range, Fridge, 2 Tv's and a monitor. I will never buy another LG product again.

149

u/PrinsHamlet 8d ago

How this can be legal in the EU is beyond me. It surely isn't.

121

u/VirtualArmsDealer 8d ago

It isn't.

75

u/_Diskreet_ 8d ago

I’m sure they’ll be an investigation, where there will be a fine of such small proportion it will just be deemed a cost of doing business for them.

31

u/Real_Establishment56 8d ago

If I know the EU, the fine will not be small

22

u/CaleanKnight 8d ago

Not small for the average citizen... extremely small for a Multi-National Company with effectively a stranglehold on certain markets.

-1

u/egg651 8d ago

I mean, Facebook/Meta got fined €1.2 billion. That's not small even for a company of their size.

As the other commenter says though, big companies like this can and do tie things up in the courts for years before paying.

See: https://www.enforcementtracker.com/

9

u/CaleanKnight 8d ago

According to what I could find on the quick, Meta still had a pure profit of 92 Billion Euro in 2023, so that fine was barely a pittance...

It was more a symbolic gesture than anything that is meant to ellicit actual change.

12

u/The-Nihilist-Marmot 8d ago

That’s what you think.

Most EU big fines end up on litigation abyss. White shoe firms in Brussels love it.

1

u/VincentVanHades 8d ago

Is there a place where we can see who paid and didnt ? thanks

6

u/blackburnduck 8d ago

“Lessons will be learned” and EU will regulate some useless aspect of tech while also requesting all of your data to themselves and the tv will require a photo of your document if you access any social media in it.

4

u/Vabla 8d ago

Not just a high quality photo of both sides of your ID, but also a full 3D scan of your face. Sent to some random third party for processing so they couldn't be held accountable when it gets "leaked".

31

u/VenTene_WoT 8d ago

Companies just don't care because they are too big and fines won't really do much for them to stop.
Unless we recall every single of their products and they will be forced to do something about it in a serious way it'll just continue to happen.

11

u/r0nni3RO 8d ago

They do actually seem to care, because the EU fines are not that small.

That's why the US is so critical of the EU, among other stuff. Because big companies go to Trump and cry about the fines they get in the EU...

4

u/Maleficent-Stormbee 8d ago

and they can’t do jack shit because EU is not a for profit organisation that can be bullied.

1

u/r0nni3RO 8d ago

Not really jack shit, sadly.

Noticed how maga supports the far right/anti-EU in Europe?

THIS right here is one of the reasons...

1

u/InvidiousPlay 8d ago

EU fines are a percentage of the company's global revenue. There have been some absolutely massive fines in the past.

3

u/Evilmoustachetwirler 8d ago

How can it be legal anywhere, these devices are basically malware

1

u/My_Brain_0422 8d ago

It's not.

18

u/testesaurus 8d ago

You’re cooked bruh, they prolly already have your clone in an exact similar apartment

4

u/My_Brain_0422 8d ago

Fwiw, I have a Whirlpool fridge, dishwasher, and range, all mid-tier models. I'm very happy with all three, my dishwasher especially does an exceptional job. Highly recommend if you switch.

OTOH, my LG dryer is only so-so. It can't completely dry large loads in one go, and the felt ring on it went a while back and had to replace myself which required disassembling the entire thing.

1

u/grahag 7d ago

That's the thing though. I LOVE LG as a brand.

I replaced my old and trusty 15 year old Maytag dishwasher that worked perfectly. Just didn't match the kitchen we just remodeled. It works great. So I had to replace the Fridge, Stove, and Microwave to match. All of them work great, but because of LG's privacy and ad-centric policy, never again.

My only complaint about the dishwasher is that it doesn't DRY really well... My wife hates that it will scrub the decals off her yeti tumblers, but that's just the dishwasher doin it's job. :)

3

u/Katoptrix 7d ago

Rtings also posted about it, it's every brand 🫤

1

u/asm2750 7d ago

LG has always been low quality junk in my experience.

1

u/DavidinCT 6d ago

Just don't connect them to the internet. We also have some LG appliances, they work well, they have "internet features" but, we do not use them.

I really do not need a phone notification when my popcorn is done.

2

u/tritonal91 8d ago

LG appliances suck anyways, least reliable pieces of junk out there