LG TV's doing some backdoor spying?

[JVR]

http://doctorbeet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/lg-smart-tvs-logging-usb-filenames-and.html

Quite scary that it gets sent in plain text...

[AlfBaz]

LOL
Change between two channels, copy the packets, knock up a dev board to repeat these packets add-infinitum. You'll start getting Ritalin adds for your inability to stay focused

[amyk]

What's next, TVs with cameras that watch and record you? How Orwellian...

Yet another reason to not trust devices with "smart" in their name.

[lnx64]

And people seriously wonder why I chose to use a TV from the 1970's.  It just works, I don't need high def, and if a tube fails, I still have sources for all of the tubes it uses.

[KedasProbe]

If you have a TV decoder box from your provider they monitor your every move.

General rule: if it has a network connection then you can be sure you are not the only one using it.

[G7PSK]

That's not that new, Sky boxes have done something similar for some time, The first thing I was asked by the sky installer was where is the telephone socket, the first thing I did when he left was unplug the box from the phone, at the time my reason was it interfered with the internet but I soon realised that it was sending data back to sky if it was plugged in again which it was once or twice as sky phoned me to ask why it was not connected in the end I told sky imitate an ouzelum bird. I then cancelled all payments to them, still have the box but don't use it.

[lnx64]

If you have a TV decoder box from your provider they monitor your every move.

General rule: if it has a network connection then you can be sure you are not the only one using it.

I use a VCR to tune the analog channels.    I doubt that thing is spying on me.

And when they ditch the analog cable channels, I'll just go ahead and hook up my digital OTA converter.  That has no transmission power and has no connectivity to the internet.

[Six_Shooter]

http://instructables.com/id/Aluminum-Foil-Hat/

There have always been ways for people to keep tabs on others, it's just getting easier...

[macboy]

What's next, TVs with cameras that watch and record you? How Orwellian...

Yet another reason to not trust devices with "smart" in their name.

That device went on sale recently. It's called XBox One.

[lnx64]

http://instructables.com/id/Aluminum-Foil-Hat/

There have always been ways for people to keep tabs on others, it's just getting easier...

Hey my aluminum foil hat is in the other room. 

But, doesn't it have to be grounded to really work?  lol

[strangelovemd12]

And people seriously wonder why I chose to use a TV from the 1970's.  It just works, I don't need high def, and if a tube fails, I still have sources for all of the tubes it uses.

I find that a lot of text is too small to read on many SD TVs, especially the increasingly complex info bar on sport games and the super crunched credits they use to make way for adverts.  Not that I can read at the 730 words a minute that credits seem to roll at anyway.

[lnx64]

And people seriously wonder why I chose to use a TV from the 1970's.  It just works, I don't need high def, and if a tube fails, I still have sources for all of the tubes it uses.

I find that a lot of text is too small to read on many SD TVs, especially the increasingly complex info bar on sport games and the super crunched credits they use to make way for adverts.  Not that I can read at the 730 words a minute that credits seem to roll at anyway.

Sports are still readable on this set, though sometimes it gets a little caught in the bezel from overscan..  Luckily I can actually fix it with my converter.  As for fine print stuff, I never watch TV ads to care.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1403449_10200908995231215_575314846_o.jpg

https://scontent-b-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1385339_10200922181920874_864071141_n.jpg

And yes, for those who remember them, this is a delta gun CRT   Those it's in dot triad for the phosphors, not slot mask.

[NiHaoMike]

If you open it up, you can probably find some adjustments to stop the overscan or at least reduce it. Also gives you (slightly) more resolution.

Every IP TV service (including the well known web services like YouTube) reports back to the server since that's required for it to work. Even with broadcast, getting additional info (metadata) is a legitimate reason to report to the server.

As for concerns over "spying", what about send loads of junk data to obscure the real data?

[mikeselectricstuff]

A fun way to subvert this might be to flood their data collection system with bogus information...

[lnx64]

If you open it up, you can probably find some adjustments to stop the overscan or at least reduce it. Also gives you (slightly) more resolution.

Sadly it only has a vertical size potentiometer, nothing for horizontal.  The service manual states that if the horizontal size is wrong, I need to tweak a capacitor in the chassis with a different value..  Also states that some different brands of tubes used in the horizontal circuit, may result in a different size horizontally too.

[tom66]

I love my dumb plasma TV. I hope they never stop making them, but I fear the money made from selling this info may make them standard. 

[rexxar]

So, let me get this straight, LG is shoving ads onto a TV that you own outright, using your bandwidth, AND reports back to the mothership what you're watching and when? In plaintext no less!

Excuse me while I find LG headquarters so I can go punch each and every one of them in the throat.

[amyk]

Every IP TV service (including the well known web services like YouTube) reports back to the server since that's required for it to work. Even with broadcast, getting additional info (metadata) is a legitimate reason to report to the server.

I've blocked s.youtube.com (their stats/etc thing that I tracked down as the cause of lag for some reason) and the videos still work fine. But if I read the original article correctly, the issue here is that the TV is sending more information on what you're watching than necessary, even content that isn't coming from the signal inputs.

[mariush]

Well apparently they're starting to get some organizations interested in this:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131121/09145425322/facing-backlash-uk-govt-inquiry-lg-now-claims-to-be-looking-into-its-smart-tvs-data-slurping-habits.shtml

[Strada916]

its simple. Disconnect the data cable.

[ovnr]

Appalling, but not entirely surprising. The whole "smart TV" idea is ridiculous if you ask me; hell, I thought we were finally moving toward TVs being dumb monitors (like a PC monitor), but noooo.

If I end up having to buy one at some point, it's not going to get any network connectivity whatsoever. I've got a dedicated PC set up with all custom software to handle my needs.

[TMM]

If I end up having to buy one at some point, it's not going to get any network connectivity whatsoever. I've got a dedicated PC set up with all custom software to handle my needs.

Ditto. My 'Smart' TV has sees nothing more than power and a HDMI cable.

On the plus side if I watch YouTube videos via the TV there are never any ads. I don't know if I'm depriving Dave of income doing it that way, but I prefer to watch on my TV.

No ads = no revenue for the content creator. Your TV would be seen as a 'mobile' device. Content creators have the option block their videos from being viewed on mobile devices because of this.

As for 'ad blockers' which bypass the ads on PCs, i'm not sure if it still 'counts' or not.

[Six_Shooter]

Appalling, but not entirely surprising. The whole "smart TV" idea is ridiculous if you ask me; hell, I thought we were finally moving toward TVs being dumb monitors (like a PC monitor), but noooo.

If I end up having to buy one at some point, it's not going to get any network connectivity whatsoever. I've got a dedicated PC set up with all custom software to handle my needs.

That's how I've used my TVs for a long time. I don't even use the built in speakers...ever.

If I could find a 47" or so computer monitor with HDMI, DVI and RGB, I would buy that as my next TV, err... monitor.

[SeanB]

HDMI 2.0 does have an embedded ethernet link in it though. Built into the spec and connected in the cable.

[andtfoot]

HDMI 2.0 does have an embedded ethernet link in it though. Built into the spec and connected in the cable.

That's been available since 1.4.
I can't say I've ever seen it used though. Closest I've seen is part of HDBaseT (which combines HDMI, Ethernet, power, etc over UTP).