Quick reminder to pull out the wireless card out of your LG smart tv 😉

[u/_benj]

You probably have heard all the LG smart tv shenanigans... I took the wifi card out of mine today and it was pretty straightforward. So here's your reminder if you've been meaning to do it.

[u/OpenTheSandwich]

Good for both owners on how to remove and more ammo for avoiding LG permanently.

[u/FPS_Holland → u/OpenTheSandwich]

Surprise, it's not just LG

[u/CorrectPeanut5 → u/FPS_Holland]

According to RTings report, Roku TV was one of the worst. They also pointed out, the only way the economics of cheap 4K TVs work is the all the spyware.

[u/hiker-read-only → u/CorrectPeanut5]

One thing that bothers me is how many times can every company make money off the same data? The whole data market is a giant Ponzi scheme. Each company reselling the data and taking a cut.

[u/ShrimpSundae007 → u/hiker-read-only]

[u/Scary_Outside2374 → u/hiker-read-only]

The smart ones started a different business. Those services like incogni who charge you to take your personal data directly from you and ask data brokers to remove it. However once you stop paying incogni they can sell your data right back to the broker for a higher price, since it's known to be accurate.

[u/kqvrp → u/CorrectPeanut5]

I don't really get that. How much is all of my data worth over the lifetime of my TV? It can't be more than like $100 or something.

[u/japzone → u/kqvrp]

We got a sneak peak behind the curtain when Best Buy Walmart bought Vizio. Most of their profit, not revenue but the actual cash above their costs, comes from their data collection. Hardware is sold at or below cost, so all the gravy is the data, not actually from selling the hardware.

[u/BearInNJ → u/japzone]

Do you mean Walmart? I thought they bought Vizio?

[u/japzone → u/BearInNJ]

You're right. Got them mixed up in my head.

[u/SteelCode → u/japzone]

Marketing.

Advertising is literally running the world economy at this point; sure natural resources and shipping are huge, but the amount of money being thrown around at or in the service of marketing (data collection) is astronomical... then you realize that the advertisers are the same ones also pushing the surveillance state too.

[u/Lotsofleaves → u/kqvrp]

It not that they can sell your specific data set for much money, it’s about having the enormous data collection of every lg tv owner’s viewing habits.

The aggregate is far more valuable than the sum of its parts.

[u/HustlinInTheHall → u/CorrectPeanut5]

The whole "TVs are only cheap because they sell your data" is patently, provably false and The Verge and Rtings continuing to push it just shows their ignorance of supply chain economics, which for TVs are fairly easy to track down if you care. 

TVs are cheap because the process of making large high end LED TVs has been made extremely efficient and there is a stable, global supply chain of nearly interchangeable parts that are competing on price, especially with Chinese panel producers upgrading to gen 8.5 platforms. 

Roku is the only manufacturer that may be taking a loss on TV hardware, but it is slim. They have said they take a loss on players, but that is to stay below the market on price because nobody is buying a roku player if it costs the same as the Apple TV. Players are also sensible loss leaders because 100% of your customers put them online, vs TVs which often get used with competing players. Roku losing $20 selling you a TV that you will hook up to an Apple TV and give Apple all the upside is stupid. Long story short most TVs are not sold at a loss, theyre just cheap to make. All the ads is just to make extra profit on top, but telling people "your TV is cheap because you let it spy on you" is a false premise people shouldn't accept as a default. Spyware is not a necessary evil, it is just an evil.  

[u/zupzupper → u/CorrectPeanut5]

The Roku I had (ultra not TV) was the busiest thing on my network according to pihole. Constant chatter.

[u/OpenTheSandwich → u/FPS_Holland]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3ohrymLzCVvCHZXQHK

[u/Dangerous_Oven1528 → u/OpenTheSandwich]

Wait until you read this sites TOS 

[u/bs000 → u/Dangerous_Oven1528]

'memba when someone actually read it and everyone was losing their minds because nothing they post belongs to them anymore and everyone just forgot and kept using reddit anyway

[u/xylarr → u/bs000]

Human centipede

[u/amiga1 → u/OpenTheSandwich]

LG are VW in Dieselgate. All the bad press is on them but everyone else is doing it too.

I've connected my TCL over ethernet to do firmware upgrades and leave it unplugged otherwise. no Wi-Fi details stored.

[u/exredditor81 → u/amiga1]

It's starting to be a good idea to never do firmware updates

[u/amiga1 → u/exredditor81]

Generally no, but I wanted Dolby Filmmaker mode that was in the latest update.

[u/monoDK13 → u/exredditor81]

Especially when the firmware may contain instructions to connect to any public or open wifi available to send all your data back home. Even if you never connect it to your personal network.

[u/Birneysdad → u/exredditor81]

Since the last update, my $1000 samsung tv asks me every week to agree to their terms and conditions. Last samsung device for me ever.

[u/voxcon → u/exredditor81]

Don't smart tvs have a firmware flashing mode where you could flash a firmware from a usb stick? I'm asking, since i don't own a tv.

[u/BioshockEnthusiast → u/voxcon]

Some yes some no

[u/docmarenghi → u/amiga1]

Many of these companies, including LG have downloadable firmware updates that you can put on a USB drive and manually update. My LG smart TV is 8 years old and has never been connected to the internet, but I did do a firmware update a couple of years ago.

[u/Solidarios → u/amiga1]

Be careful. It will still constantly scan and connect to any open WiFi even if you don’t enter anything in. That’s what the researches stated.

[u/dvoecks → u/amiga1]

The messed up thing is they they go looking for open wifi.

I'm tempted to figure out what they try to do and setting up an open wifi with its own DNS, CA, and a web service that just says "200/OK" to absolutely everything coming from the TV

[u/Fit-Dark-4062 → u/OpenTheSandwich]

I wish LG would sell dumb panels. The screens are great, the software, well...

[u/TazBaz → u/Fit-Dark-4062]

Just treat it as a dumb panel. My TV has power and HDMI. Connected to my receiver. Streaming is from an AppleTV input to the reciever.

[u/Class8guy → u/OpenTheSandwich]

LG is the easy target here but every TV/phone/media device company does this to a varying degree. You're very naive if you believe it's only LG.

[u/OpenTheSandwich → u/Class8guy]

I agree that it’s very prevalent outside of LG, it’s good that it’s getting mainstream media coverage.

[u/ryo4ever]

I miss my old Panasonic plasma TV. No enshitification.

[u/ru4serious → u/ryo4ever]

I still have two in use. They're great. I'll be sad if I ever have to get rid of them

[u/ryo4ever → u/ru4serious]

Sold mine before getting an LG. What a mistake that was. Should’ve just kept it while evaluating the LG and realise how difficult everything is. Plasma + Roku, that’s all I really needed.

[u/MattDH94 → u/ryo4ever]

Roku is quite an offender if I recall… I’d opt for an Onn box with minimal account connection

[u/gurrst → u/ryo4ever]

Still rocking my Viera th-46p 46 inch plasma. One of the best purchases ive made. At the time it was 1200, expensive. It weighs an easy 80 pounds and pulls like 400 watts, enough to heat the room in winter. Shes a beauty though and nearing 20 years of daily use.

[u/plaguedbullets → u/gurrst]

Mine just start smoking last winter (42")... I thought it was just being a rebellious teen tv but she was dead :(

[u/UserSleepy → u/ryo4ever]

Plasmas had such great quality. Too bad mine died. Keep those things rocking

[u/Lunaphase_Lasers → u/UserSleepy]

Good news, 99% of the time when they die, it's just a blown mosfet on the inverter board, and a fuse. Way easier to fix than modern TVs. All modern TVs are shit. Every single one.

[u/longtimegoneMTGO → u/Lunaphase_Lasers]

Got any good links to resources for fixing one?

I know how to replace a soldered in part, but don't know where to start as far as troubleshooting which part is bad if it's not something obvious like a swollen capacitor.

[u/amd2800barton → u/ryo4ever]

I’m still using mine. I love it. The color and contrast of plasma is better than pretty much anything except an OLED. People for years were like “you like to watch movies and love technology, why don’t you have 4K”, but I wasn’t willing to compromise and get an LCD. Who cares if a picture is 4K if there’s blooming around every star in a space scene or ghosting in fast action sequences?

I finally ended up getting a C3 OLED on closeout in December of 2024, but I wouldn’t ever pay the new prices for one. My plasma in 2012 was $800, whereas a comparable high end OLED is nearly double that these days.

[u/Difficult-Reality848]

Until they start delivering new TV's with firmware that disables the TV when the wireless card is removed.

[u/foramperandi → u/Difficult-Reality848]

99% of their customers are going to connect it to wifi. People like OP are not worth any effort on LGs part.

[u/Arudinne → u/foramperandi]

Except these days that effort amount to something along the lines of "Hey ChatGPT, please add a check in the firmware to see if the Wi-Fi card is missing or not responsive. If that is the case, please display a non-dismissible error screen indicating the user needs to contact technical support."

[u/classic_buttso → u/Arudinne]

The effort to do that would be very trivial without AI.

[u/marfacza → u/classic_buttso]

people ask ChatGPT what 1+2 equals.

[u/3-Midgets_In_A_Coat → u/marfacza]

4, of course.

[u/GreatTinySomething → u/3-Midgets_In_A_Coat]

You are absolutely right!

[u/Hexamancer → u/Arudinne]

The hassle false positives would cause them instantly outweighs the benefits for them.

[u/vardalkar → u/Arudinne]

That's just the code change. Then you need tests for it and it cannot be automated, so you're adding a permanent item to manual testing that requires hardware fiddling, and this will need to be repeated for every OS update. You also need someone to take accountability for this feature, it will be a hard sell.

Code was never the bottleneck.

[u/RiskyPenetrator → u/Arudinne]

Delete this

[u/foramperandi → u/Arudinne]

You're generally not shipping any change for a consumer facing product at a large company like LG just because you want to. In addition, it seems unlikely a developer would want to. They're more likely to get scolded for not working on the items they already have on their plate, that they're already late on, than to be rewarded doing something no one asked for.

The person that would authorize this is going to be at least as high as a product manager and they likely don't even know that wifi is on a card.

[u/4kVHS → u/Difficult-Reality848]

“Critical hardware error detected. Please contact LG customer support for service. Power off in 30 seconds.”

[u/Same-Description4171 → u/4kVHS]

DAYM…

[u/Difficult-Reality848 → u/4kVHS]

Exactly that.

[u/JagsLittle]

I disconnected mine from the wifi (software wise), but it just keeps automatically turning on at 1am to tell me that I’m “missing features while it’s disconnected.”

Pretty fucking frustrating since it’s in my bedroom.

[u/RBeck → u/JagsLittle]

Just change the clock so it turns at 6pm, it won't know what time it is.

/s

[u/JagsLittle → u/RBeck]

I got fed up with it and unplugged it.

Can’t send data if it doesn’t have power.

https://giphy.com/gifs/d3mlE7uhX8KFgEmY

[u/Masterflitzer → u/JagsLittle]

use a smart plug with home assistant (self hosted) to give it power when you need it without getting out of bed

[u/Plane_Frosting5194 → u/JagsLittle]

[u/bluecollarbiker → u/JagsLittle]

Sounds like a great time for a smart plug, or if that’s not your jam than an old timer plug.

[u/FrenchRevolution2028]

I feel like a new actor that simply promises a "DUMB" TV would do really well nowadays.

[u/ArchibaldMcFerguson → u/FrenchRevolution2028]

The problem is cost and convincing buyers to buy a more expensive dumb tv. They can lower the msrp knowing that they'll make more money long term.

[u/Dreadedsemi → u/FrenchRevolution2028]

You'd be surprised how many people don't care.

[u/shadedmagus]

This is the way. There's no guarantee these things aren't hardcoded to silently connect to any open wifi network.

[u/Logical_Mix_4627 → u/shadedmagus]

How dumb is their internal logic? Can one place a dummy AP with an open network but no internet access next to the TV so that the signal shows up as strongest with no password, then force the TV to just connect? Or will it try to cycle through open APs until it finds something with internet access?

I wonder how tricky you can get. Can you put something behind that AP that lets it seem like it’s connected to the internet but force every request to automatically return a 500 error code so the TV just thinks the home servers are busted permanently?

[u/jigsaw1024 → u/Logical_Mix_4627]

This is probably the best way to do it to 'calm' the TV down, but is well into the realm of too technical for most people.

[u/dags_do_ya_like_dags → u/shadedmagus]

Pretty soon IoT devices and TVs will have a second card soldered directly into their mainboards as a method of connecting directly to satellite internet services like starlink, as a means of sending telemetry data, bypassing your home network completely. Says the tinfoil hatter in me.

[u/Emu1981 → u/dags_do_ya_like_dags]

I would actually be pretty impressed if TVs had circuitry hidden on the mainboard that was capable of communicating any meaningful amount of data to a satellite due to limitations regarding antennas. It would be far simpler to just include a 4/5g cellular connection and would probably be cheaper.

[u/Devin-Chaboyer223 → u/Emu1981]

And the TV is 99.9% likely to be under a roof, Starlink dishes don’t work indoors unless you have a large window in a specific direction

[u/hm___ → u/Emu1981]

They just need a contract with google that lets them piggyback on your android devices connectivity, like those tracker thingies no modem or wifi passwords needed just wifi or bluetooth

[u/4kVHS → u/dags_do_ya_like_dags]

Good thing there won’t be satellite signal inside.

[u/foramperandi → u/dags_do_ya_like_dags]

It would be impossible to hide this on any US models, since it would have to pass FCC certifications and those records are all public once the TV is on the market. I assume most other countries have very similar processes.

[u/w8eight → u/dags_do_ya_like_dags]

They cpuldnjust have 4g, most likely tv is in the room where there is coverage

[u/grathontolarsdatarod → u/shadedmagus]

WhisperNet is still a thing.

Plus the net they use for cars.

This is why the FCC changed around the spectrum, they cleared the air for these uses.

[u/foramperandi → u/grathontolarsdatarod]

Whispernet and cars just use cellular networks. There is no magic there. If the TVs had cellular radios, you'd be able to tell by just reading the FCC filings that are public.

[u/Devin-Chaboyer223 → u/foramperandi]

And the TV would have an IMEI number, afaik there are no TVs with cellular connectivity

[u/MehImages → u/shadedmagus]

iirc it's been proven that they do that (afaik it hasn't. I misremembered the fact that they scan them)

[u/MrNationwide → u/MehImages]

They LOG the networks they see, not connect to them.

[u/amiga1 → u/MrNationwide]

your phone does this too btw. it has some practical uses such as knowing when you're at home since GPS works poorly indoors.

[u/Na__th__an → u/MehImages]

It hasn't. It would be trivially easy to show. Find one verified instance of a TV connecting to an open Wi-Fi model. You can't.

[u/Babajji → u/Na__th__an]

I did find one but it wasn’t malicious. During setup most Philips TVs will just connect to the first random open network around but will tell you about it. If you disable the networking capability in the settings it won’t connect to anything anymore. Notice however that this TV is 6 years old so maybe it got worse since then but I believe it was an attempt at making the setup easier rather than something malicious.

[u/celtekk_ → u/MehImages]

No it hasn't.

[u/deman-13 → u/shadedmagus]

Who has open wifi?

[u/gummytoejam → u/deman-13]

Xfinity has placed an open ap in their customers' homes. I assume other ISPs do the same.

Amazon's smart devices are capable of forming mesh networks.

Smart meters are also capable of forming mesh networks.

It's trivial for smart TV's to connect to these third party networks through licensing to get your data. Is it paranoid to assume they do? Or is it naive to assume they don't?

[u/TyfoonTF2 → u/deman-13]

I don’t personally, but some have segmented guest networks, neighbors, any nearby businesses, etc. which the TV will automatically transmit packets through.

[u/tssssahhhh → u/deman-13]

Every bus in range from the TV in my case

[u/Taki_Minase]

Activating backup wifi card

[u/Daftworks → u/Taki_Minase]

[u/AulLad]

I rooted mine and turned off the tracking ‘features’.
Good enough for me.

[u/Altruistic-Spend-896 → u/AulLad]

https://giphy.com/gifs/MM0Jrc8BHKx3y

[u/Complete_Big_9493 → u/AulLad]

Updates can sometimes undo rooting 

[u/NoobensMcarthur → u/Complete_Big_9493]

If it’s not connected to the internet, how is it going to get updated? I have a TCL and the last update it ever got was before it went into the box at the factory in 2019.  

If you’re using streaming devices like an Apple TV, there is no need to update the tv. 

I need my tv to turn on, and I need to be able to select an input. Outside of that, I don’t give a shit about anything else it can do. 

I will never ever ever ever allow a TV to connect to outside networks. 

[u/EatMoTacos → u/AulLad]

Oh shit I need to do this for my Sony Android TV

[u/Neo1331]

I just block my tvs at the firewall level or just don’t connect them to the wifi….

[u/Computers_and_cats]

The trick is to not buy anything made by LG.

[u/war6763 → u/Computers_and_cats]

Actually, buying a TV from them and promptly removing the wireless card will cost them significantly more money. They’re building the TV assuming that they’ll make the profit in the long term from monitoring its users

[u/DonaldMerwinElbert → u/war6763]

Doubt that's the way to make them stop.
They'll just get more aggressive with it.
You're still buying their shit, they won't think "oh no, the consumer doesn't want us to spy on them", they'll think "some long haired, skateboarding punk is breaking the law and endangering lives by performing unauthorized modifications" - and you know the politicians they bought will agree.

[u/Your_New_Overlord → u/war6763]

Or just buy a much cheaper TV that looks the same and doesn’t spy on you??

[u/mattv959 → u/Your_New_Overlord]

Find me one that doesn't and I'll go out and buy it.

[u/nemofbaby2014 → u/Computers_and_cats]

Tbh all tv makers suck

[u/Babajji → u/nemofbaby2014]

True. This is why I am buying a conference room display on liquidation and skipping the entire TV thing. F em, I own the display!

[u/mister2d → u/Computers_and_cats]

The issue isn't limited to LG.

[u/A_Coin_Toss_Friendo]

Step 1: Remove WiFi card.

[u/bagofweights → u/A_Coin_Toss_Friendo]

That’s step 2. Step 1 is identify the WiFi card.

[u/h0nest_Bender]

That's the fake wifi card the smart TV keeps around its neck to protect the real wifi card.

[u/CreativeLibrarian886]

Do it now before they push out a software update that makes the tv not work without a working card installed.

[u/AlarmingRope9624 → u/CreativeLibrarian886]

Thats when you track down 16micron lead foil, wrap the card in Kapton tape and enshroud it in the foil, then wrap more Kapton around that to avoid any possibility of arcing, and reinsert the card

then trace the aerials and do the same thing.

[u/MercDawg]

Has anyone tried Glasshouse? https://github.com/rorygallagher2024/lg-webos-dashboard

Seems like it could give us the levers to turn all the telemetry off.

[u/DOLLAR_POST → u/MercDawg]

Yes I discovered it yesterday and immediately rooted my TV and installed glasshouse. Honestly it made my day. It's rock solid and intuitive. It offers many great features, and I actually feel in control now.

[u/Aggravating_Plan11]

Seems like to much work i just block it at the router.

[u/PiDigitsOfPi → u/Aggravating_Plan11]

Or just don't connect to the WiFi to being with???

[u/nleksan → u/Aggravating_Plan11]

Allegedly they Scan for and join any available open networks such as a neighbor's guest Wi-Fi

[u/foramperandi → u/nleksan]

The Gamer's Nexus story didn't allege this, they just wildly speculated that it was possible. The only people alleging this are random people on the internet with no proof.

[u/dertechie → u/foramperandi]

This whole story has just become a giant mess of rampant speculation. I fully expect within a week we will see claims that LG TVs will hack into your WiFi to exfiltrate their payload a la OpenAI breaching HuggingFace.

[u/JasonMaggini → u/foramperandi]

It certainly feels like the kind of thing the suits would get wind of and thing, "hey, now there's an idea! Jenkins, get the boys in R&D on that!"

[u/Spicymayoshi]

I finally got an ONN not too long ago and I set that up with heavy restrictions, set strict rules for it on my router, and has the absolute joy of doing a hard reset on my TCL roku tv and set it back up in offline mode. It's a joy being able to turn it on and just see input select and that's it.

[u/James_Vowles]

or install glasshouse so you can still use the internet

[u/GG_Killer]

I haven't tested it on LG, but what I usually do is setup the TV using a wired connection and then set an input as the default power on screen. I then disconnect the wired connection and that's it.

[u/ManyLayersOfFilament]

That's ridiculous Just never give it wi-fi credentials. These things aren't going to hack into private networks. Sheesh.

edit: as a security professional, this thread is hilarious, you all realize that you probably have a dozen devices all capable of spying on you in the same way with embedded wi-fi/bluetooth modules in them this very second? are you going to take those apart, too? Be reasonable, folks. Or better yet, go on a paranoid rampage and disassemble every electronic device in your house.

The more reasonable advice: never connect these TVs to your wireless network. If you want to run an update out of the box, do a wi-fi hotspot on your phone with a throwaway SSID and password you can delete afterward. Then delete that network from the TV and use a device like a Google TV, Onn, Apple TV, Fire Stick, etc to connect to streaming services and media.

[u/Jlove7714 → u/ManyLayersOfFilament]

I've given up. I can't keep my family from connecting things, so they all get put on their vlan with client segregation and a pipe that only goes out to the Internet.

[u/ManyLayersOfFilament → u/Jlove7714]

completely reasonable approach.

[u/GeekerJ]

I block things and re-write at dns level. Although I did see a post on Reddit about rooting the TV, turning off all telemetry and a bonus of a fully featured home assistant setup.

[u/JustinHoMi → u/GeekerJ]

Won’t do much good if it connects to your neighbor’s WiFi.

[u/ningen666]

Everyone in this thread talking about how TVs were demonstrated to connect to open wifi. 

not saying you are wrong, but can I plz get a source? 

[u/greentea05 → u/ningen666]

They don't - they scan wifi which is to enable the smart features to work - people have just made up the rest.

Typical internet weirdo paranoia. I swear it's because some of these nutters have hard drives full of CP.

[u/felopez → u/ningen666]

I imagine this gamers nexus video is what everyone is referencing: https://youtu.be/6IFVTcM28KA?is=yS6I3EtVpO6OrzpU

[u/memebuster]

Awesome of you to post a clear pic, thanks! The youtubes dont show it clearly.

My concern is the tv might pester you in the future. My G3 pops up once every 3 months or so “enable wifi to use voice commands” so only a long term test will tell us the cons of removing the wifi card. Keep it around, you never know if you need to put it back in the future.

Also, I pulled the wireless modem from my jeep, for similar reasons. Very hard to find how-to's on this, but it's in the head unit and fairly easy.

[u/RY3B3RT]

wouldn't the same shenanigans occur through ethernet, or am I out of the loop?

[u/StraT0 → u/RY3B3RT]

I think the Idea is for the TV to have 0 internet connection

[u/g2g079]

Seems like disabling the microphone would be a better use of your time.

[u/Beautiful_Ad_4813]

This is another avenue of why I don’t have have Alexa devices, always eavesdropping no matter what

Siri is off on my iPhone, watch, and Apple TVs.

Even if it’s cost-prohibitive for many, getting a larger PC display with built in speakers and attaching my Apple TV is a safe bet, it’s not listing.

It’s yet another example of overreach that I’m not fond of

[u/AKostur]

Oddly, I disabled my wifi (sorry, not physically), and then the TV was arbitrarily turning itself on.   Reenable wifi, and that problem went away.  Grr.

[u/Fantastic_Badger_00]

seems a bit extreme. really curious how it would have connected without you giving it access to a wireless network.

[u/TheSirOcelot]

AppleTV is the only one that doesn’t

[u/steam_has_issues]

Is there a tutorial out there to do this? IIRC it kills the ability to use the magic remote pointer, but I don't know if that's true.

[u/happymistak]

Pihole to the rescue!!

[u/e37d93eeb23335dc]

Just don’t give it your WiFi password. 

[u/hurrdurrmeh]

They will start soldering them or just building them into the motherboard.

LG are cunts. Never buying that brand again.

[u/AcipenserNo1]

Shouldn't I be safe if my TV hasn't any microphone included (model from 2018)?

[u/Lordofderp33 → u/AcipenserNo1]

If the remote is also without a mic, you should, theoretically, be fine.

[u/CyanideJalebi → u/AcipenserNo1]

Prefacing this by saying that I have no knowledge of the said TV model. But, what if there is a microphone on their motherboard and they were always doing this, including a microphone would be dirt cheap on a board they are designing, right?

[u/time-lord → u/CyanideJalebi]

Absolutely. If the board they use has a mic by default it may cost more to do a custom run without it, than to use the default config.

[u/jodudeit]

How much data can my LG TV steal if I never give it the Wi-Fi password?

[u/CuriosTiger → u/jodudeit]

Depends on whether there's any open wifi networks within range of your house.

[u/diggyou]

Can’t you just forget the WiFi network instead?

[u/jyrox]

At this point, the spying is so prolific, I’m almost black-pilled on the idea of having any measure of privacy.

[ImTiredBoss.jpg]

[u/Ok_Brilliant_3909 → u/jyrox]

and that's exactly what they want unfortunately

[u/h-v-smacker]

The real question is, what fun can be had with this card once it is removed?

[u/Kazhmyr1]

Ive got the wireless NIC blocked on my network, to afraid to take apart the 75" C3 lol

[u/RetroBlast81]

Why? Just do not connect the WiFi.

[u/stellarsapience]

I wish I could get the TV for a few hundred cheaper without any of the smart garbage. I haven't used a TV's built in smarts, like, ever

[u/nathism]

My 55” Panasonic plasma is looking better and better by the day

[u/SerialCrusher17]

I have a Hisense tv. Told it to forget my wifi after I did an initial setup and firmware update. About 5 months later it decided to rejoin the network all on its own. I was furious. Should figure out how to do this on it!

[u/Accomplished-Oil-569]

Or you know just don’t connect it to the internet

[u/cocacola999]

Sorry what news? Do I need to investigate if my TV has ethernet else family will not be happy 

[u/remember_khitomer → u/cocacola999]

The short version: LG TVs are watching what you watch, listening to things you say, recording all of this, and sending it back to LG for them to sell to advertisers.

The longer version, with receipts: https://youtu.be/6IFVTcM28KA

[u/nontoxic_user → u/remember_khitomer]

Watchout to the link, the part after "?is" is an identifier strictly linked to your yt account

[u/CyanideJalebi → u/nontoxic_user]

It's poetic. Monitoring everywhere. A youtube link with user identifier on a reddit post about LV TVs recording you all the time.

[u/Substantial-Goal6224 → u/cocacola999]

Don't worry. Your phone probably does worse.

[u/DonaldMerwinElbert → u/Substantial-Goal6224]

definitely

[u/PeterC18st]

Which tv model? did you follow a guide? I have a c2.

[u/OscillodopeScope]

Not just LG, I wouldn’t trust any manufacturer atp. Also, any speaker can be used as a microphone (a speaker is literally a microphone in reverse) so even if your TV doesn’t have a dedicated microphone, it can still be used as a listening device.

We live in hell….

[u/Apprehensive_Bit4767]

Just bought a TCL 65-in TV first thing I did was not sign in to Google. Then I attached my modified ONN Android TV box to the HDMI.

[u/OkTooth8821]

I setup a new rgb Sony tv at a clients house. I couldnt finish setup without installing gemini. So crasy...

[u/biggobird]

I rooted and turned every bit of tracking off. Way easier

[u/sabotourAssociate]

I just sow a thing about it on IG, why are LG targeted when we all know they all do it?

[u/MisterGerry]

Just don’t let it on your network.

[u/80MonkeyMan]

Eh, just connect it to IOT VLAN or don’t connect it to WiFi at all.

[u/ghostyghost2]

I'd almost kill for a decent dumb tv

[u/Krojack76]

I hope a mega class action suit is in the works by someone. That fact these can even connect to your neighbors guest wifi to send out shit it's recorded from your living room is just beyond stupid.

[u/slog → u/Krojack76]

Please provide some evidence that it actually does this.

[u/Accomplished-Oil-569 → u/Krojack76]

Ha yeah my Tv is just causally hacking through my neighbours WiFi password encryption 🙄

[u/IT_Trashman]

So part of the HDMI spec is ethernet functionality. How do we know for sure the TV isn't leveraging some sort of packet transfer via HDMI in certain setups?

[u/Useful_radio2 → u/IT_Trashman]

most devices dont meet that spec anyway nor use it

[u/IT_Trashman → u/Useful_radio2]

Sounds like something LG's lawyers would say.

[u/mefirefoxes → u/IT_Trashman]

That would require your downstream device to either operate as a switch or router, both HIGHLY unlikely. It would be a lot of additional cost for not much benefit. It would also be very easy to detect.

[u/SnooOranges3779 → u/IT_Trashman]

That would require a device that supports sharing connection over HDMI. I don't think that has ever been a thing

[u/Navydevildoc → u/SnooOranges3779]

Some pro-level AV switchers support it for large sports bars or digital signage or whatever. But I don't think I have ever seen it in residential settings.

[u/AnApexBread → u/IT_Trashman]

The other device would have to support acting as a bridge

[u/Xoxo091317]

Reminder : Don't buy LG

[u/zer0fks → u/Xoxo091317]

Also reminder: everyone still does this

[u/ExpressTumbleweed195 → u/Xoxo091317]

So what should be purchased instead?

[u/enkrypt3d]

Block it on the firewall and load up the black lists on your pihole. This way you can still control it over the network.

[u/yesorno12138]

I feel like whoever starts to make a dumb tv with no wifi shit, but a great quality panel and enough HDMI ports will win the market

[u/WintertideFellow → u/yesorno12138]

They exist. Commercial panels. Used in offices and the lot. Superb quality, no bs adware. What you want. 

When you price them out, you learn exactly how much slurping up all our information is worth to the manufacturers. 

[u/kokosgt]

...or you can just not connect it to WiFi network.

[u/Fit-Dark-4062 → u/kokosgt]

I caught mine searching my network for a hue controller as an escape hatch when I locked down my network.

[u/sandm4n_RS → u/Fit-Dark-4062]

Your TV:

https://giphy.com/gifs/yx400dIdkwWdsCgWYp

[u/chubbysumo → u/kokosgt]

nope, it will connect to open wifi networks around you without your permission needed. I don't need to because there is no wifi around me except mine.

[u/bleachedupbartender → u/chubbysumo]

it wasn’t proven to do this, it was said that it could do this

edit: did a lot of you actually watch the GN deep dive, or are we just regurgitating headlines? keeping things factual is the best thing we can do in a situation where stuff like this will likely end up in court and LG (and alike) will want to discredit the privacy first community.

[u/Radius118]

Isn't it easier to just block it's MAC from your router or DHCP server? If it can't get an IP it doesn't exist on the network.

[u/phblue → u/Radius118]

The problem is it supposedly is always looking for some open network, like a neighbor or those free WiFi connections in a lot of cities.

[u/FckXFckMusk]

Sony Android too....

Wifi swithced off and it still connects to wifi router.

[u/PiDigitsOfPi → u/FckXFckMusk]

That's because you let it remember the password. You need to click the option to forget the network.

[u/Foreign_Awareness614]

Why not just don’t connect to WiFi

[u/AlludedNuance]

Or just don't tell your smart TV the wifi password.

[u/disguy2k]

I just blocked its MAC on my router. Doesn't void the warranty too.

[u/anonduplo]

Why cant you just remove it from your wifi and not connect it via ethernet?