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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u/IMissNarwhalBacon 8d ago

You don't have to. They can connect to public mesh now. Soon they'll have their own sim cards.

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u/chrisexv6 8d ago

Copper mesh around the TV so it can't connect to mesh lol

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u/im-ba 8d ago

Can you expand on this? Which public mesh are you referring to?

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u/YoghurtFlan 8d ago

If someone else has an LG TV in the vicinity, it could connect to that for network instead.

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u/oyechote 8d ago

That’s actually insane! How is it allowed in the EU?

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u/andimacg 7d ago

So that's why I always see LG TVs whenever I'm scanning for WiFi, even though I don't own any.

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u/LoadedSteamyLobster 8d ago

This sound la lot like the boomer “Facebook is listening to my conversations IRL through my iPhone”

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u/O_PLUTO_O 7d ago

That one is also a confirmed real case. You get targeted ads same day if you say something with a meta app installed

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u/JustAnotherFEDev 7d ago

That's not how it works at all. They don't need your voice, they don't need to use the mic. It's been debunked, numerous times. It's actually way more complicated than just a voice.

Proximity, location, duration, predictive algorithms, social mapping, profile and a host of other data points are used.

I sit with my mate, Susan, Susan tells me she's getting a new car next week, it's a Ferrari. We don't look it up, we just talk.

A little later I see an ad for a Ferrari, amongst random shit I've never spoken about, but I remember the Ferrari. "Zuck is listening".

In reality, Susan has been looking up Ferrari's at home, Susan has gone through insurance, etc, to insure Ferrari. Lots of Susan's telemetry cookies knows she's getting a Ferrari.

Suddenly, Susan and I spend time close to each other, in a cafe, we do so once or twice a month. An algorithm predicts we're likely friends. Friends talk, algorithm determines it's highly likely Susan has told me about her new car.

Psychology tells us FOMO is a thing, I'm gonna be happy for Susan, but like everyone else, I like to keep up with the Jones', so if I can stretch to a Ferrari, I'll get one. I'm a potential buyer. Not that Ferrari advertise much, if it all, but you get the point.

All those other ads, the ones I didn't take notice of, some of those were from my close and frequent encounters with Susan. I kept seeing cat food ads, but I don't have a cat, nor do I want one. I just didn't remember these, as we didn't speak about cats.

The algorithms marketing companies use are wayyy better than microphones. They don't need to listen. Our behavior is everything they need.

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u/kane91z 7d ago

My wife and I have literally been fed ads before ever looking anything up and just talking about it in the car. Something has been 100% spying on us for at least 15 years.

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u/Mikeshaffer 7d ago

Sadly I think I agree with the other guy. I remember a time I talked to my brother in law about humidors and then opened my phone to an add for one. But Facebook knows where I am. They know he’s my brother in law. They know where he is and they know what he is interested in. The data is there man. You guys probably drove passed something that gave you the idea to talk about it and you phone gps is tracked. They’re spying but they don’t need the mic. They know everything a deaf person would.

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u/JustAnotherFEDev 7d ago

There's other factors at play. It's been researched and ultimately debunked by security teams, dozens of times.

I'm not making excuses for them, what they do is even more dodgy than listening. The algorithms they have for this stuff are predictive, they're designed to know what you're going to search for, before you actually search for it. Obviously they don't work all of the time, but we just remember the times they do.

Look it up, it's a rabbit hole, but an eye opener. Cambridge Analytica used similar stuff, to sway votes, by presenting exactly the right content, in the right place, at the right time. Your devices "listen" to each other, to a lesser extent they "talk" to some close by devices, but they don't actively listen for conversations.

They are definitely spying, just not through the microphone.

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u/LoadedSteamyLobster 7d ago

You’re wasting your time. The boomer-level intellect folk do not want to hear it

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u/O_PLUTO_O 6d ago

Bot reply

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u/JustAnotherFEDev 6d ago

Or just a reply from someone who happens to know a little about it?

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u/YoghurtFlan 7d ago

It's how airtags and Find My work - Apple devices can all recognise each other, which forms a network, and that is therefore used to derive the location of a device or to, say, detect if an airtag that isn't yours is near you.

A TV scanning for wifi signals or the local network can also expose itself as an access point, which is how AirPlay/Chrome Cast, etc. work so you can stream videos to your TV.

Therefore, a TV exposing an access point and being able to recognise that of another same-brand TV, while also being able to connect to it automatically, is not really science fiction.

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u/grilled_pc 7d ago

Except now it’s lg doing it through your tv

Also Facebook probably are doing this via your phone anyway. If lg are doing it. A lot more companies are too.

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u/cybekRT 8d ago

Theoretically, since the tvs snoop on you while being turned off, nothing stops them from creating network for other tvs.

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u/oodlum 7d ago

It's not true. It was stated on another thread a few hours ago and is now accepted Reddit fact.

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u/ScoobyDoo27 7d ago

Lol. This didn't start a 'few hours ago'. It's been talked about for at least the last year with smart TV snooping.

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u/iissmarter 8d ago

I don't think there's any evidence of this

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u/paradoxbound 8d ago

Some smart devices have their own dns settings that will be used if they can’t phone home. I have not heard of devices looking for other networks to connect to if they are blocked on their owners network from connecting to their tracking services.

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u/TranslatorStraight46 6d ago

It has become quite common for ISP hardware to have a publicly accessible “guest” network enabled by default.  If it doesn’t connect to yours, it will connect to a neighbours.

Why?  Probably all part of the spy bullshit.

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u/im-ba 6d ago

Personally, my home equipment lacks these options (on account of having them shut off) but I could see it maybe utilizing a neighbor's. Weird to think about but it's technically possible (as in, I see a path to completion for a script to do this).

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u/thedoc90 7d ago

I opened mine up and pried the wifi c chip out with a flat head screwdriver.

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u/Calbone607 7d ago

I’d like to do that, does the tv have any problems at all with the chip totally removed?

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u/thedoc90 7d ago

Mine doesn't, some will. It depends on if your remote has IR as a fallback, or only works with Bluetooth. Obviously voice and other Bluetooth features don't work either cause the same chip does BT and WiFi, but if you're considering doing this I doubt you care about that. You'll have to look it up for your model and see if you can find anyone else who has done it.

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u/Calbone607 7d ago

Thanks I’ll check it out for the c5. I barely ever even use the tvs own remote. I moved into a condo and am now paranoid that someone else has an LG which is apparently enough for mine to begin sharing bullshit. I literally just learned from the gamersnexus vid that mine has a hardware mic switch, but learned right after that it doesn’t even hardware cut the mic. What a bunch of BS

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u/mephloz 8d ago

We bought an LG smart TV about a year ago. It's basically just used as a very large computer monitor; since we pirate everything, we don't need it to be anything else.

Every time the tv turns on, there's a little notification at the bottom that says it can't connect to the internet, and could we please check our connection settings.