[HN Gopher] I didn't realize my LG TV was spying on me until I t...
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       I didn't realize my LG TV was spying on me until I turned off this
       setting
        
       Author : fcpguru
       Score  : 42 points
       Date   : 2025-12-23 21:47 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.pocket-lint.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.pocket-lint.com)
        
       | gnabgib wrote:
       | Related - it's a lot of the brands: Hisense, LG, Samsung, Sony,
       | TCL
       | 
       |  _Texas is suing all of the big TV makers for spying on what you
       | watch_ (1258 points, 7 days ago, 641 points)
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46294456
        
       | WarOnPrivacy wrote:
       | "This setting" is called Live Plus.                   it's a
       | feature on LG smart TVs that uses ACR (automatic content
       | recognition)         to analyze what's displayed on your screen.
       | LG then uses that data to offer         "personalized services,"
       | including content recommendations         and advertisements.
        
       | bsmth wrote:
       | I have an LG at home and I seem to remember it being the top
       | device that appears in my pihole client list by number of blocked
       | requests.
        
         | turtletontine wrote:
         | Have you turned off this setting too? Just curious if you've
         | tried messing with the settings, and whether they actually
         | change the TV's traffic patterns you see in the DNS sinkhole.
         | Good experiment at the very least
        
       | cluckindan wrote:
       | "Valnet and our 346 technology partners ask you to consent..."
       | 
       | Oh, the irony.
        
       | userbinator wrote:
       | 12 years ago:
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6759426
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6778397
        
       | charcircuit wrote:
       | >While it's frustrating that a setting like this exists in the
       | first place
       | 
       | I think it's a good thing that consumers are given a choice on
       | whether they want it or not.
        
         | 7373737373 wrote:
         | It's not a choice if it's an underhanded default opt-in without
         | knowledge, understanding or explicit consent
        
           | ramses0 wrote:
           | And it used to reset to "on" after random firmware updates.
        
           | charcircuit wrote:
           | Would you prefer there to be no setting os disable it?
        
             | yjftsjthsd-h wrote:
             | I would prefer that the setting not exist because the
             | functionality doesn't exist.
        
       | cosmic_cheese wrote:
       | I thought it was relatively common knowledge within technical
       | circles to never give smart TVs an internet connection, but I
       | suppose not.
       | 
       | Also, it's worth noting that TVs built on Android TV have a
       | massive advantage here in that you can plug them into your laptop
       | and remove the content recognition package using adb (Android
       | Debug Bridge) just like you might with a phone or tablet. This
       | might be possible with Samsung Tizen and LG webOS devices too,
       | but both are going to require more esoteric tooling.
        
         | ekropotin wrote:
         | What's the point in having smart TV without internet access?
        
           | vel0city wrote:
           | Well, there's little choice for TVs _without_ smart features
           | these days. Especially if you 're wanting certain quality and
           | other features.
        
           | spudlyo wrote:
           | You get a much cheaper TV. The folks who manufacture the TV
           | expect to make a certain amount of revenue from your data, so
           | they price this into the cost of the TV. This saves you from
           | having to spend more money on a commercial display that often
           | has a worse panel.
        
           | cosmic_cheese wrote:
           | The specs and quality of the panel, backlighting (if
           | applicable), and image processing. These days, the few "dumb"
           | TVs that are still sold are either cheap and bad or are
           | designed for signage use and aren't well suited for
           | TV/movies/games relative to their mass-market smart cousins.
           | 
           | A smart TV used as a dumb TV alongside a quality streaming
           | box (Apple TV or Nvidia Shield TV) or console gets you the
           | best overall experience.
        
           | hapticmonkey wrote:
           | The best (in terms of image quality) consumer displays on the
           | market right now are OLED TVs from LG and Samsung. But
           | they're also "Smart" TVs.
           | 
           | I keep mine disconnected and use an external media box
           | (AppleTV 4K).
        
       | imiric wrote:
       | > Fortunately, once you've toggled Live Plus off, you no longer
       | have to worry about your TV screen constantly being read to see
       | what you're watching and to give you targeted ads.
       | 
       | Eh, I wouldn't be so quick to let my guard down. Even if you
       | trust that that toggle actually turns the functionality
       | completely off, there's no guarantee that it won't be enabled
       | again in the next update.
       | 
       | Just keep your TV offline, as it always should be, and use it as
       | a dumb display for trusted devices.
        
         | thinkloop wrote:
         | What's a trusted device to stream with?
        
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       (page generated 2025-12-23 23:00 UTC)