LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/07/lg-to-ban-residential-proxies-from-smart-tv-apps/

by DemiGuru • 20 hours ago

381 397 20 hours ago

krebsonsecurity.com

pixl97• 19 hours ago

I mean, why didn't they do that from the start?

steele• 19 hours ago

Honeypot for more logos

akersten• 19 hours ago

is this some kind of tactical distraction from the other LG headlines this week?

I thought residential proxies are already banned from SmartTV apps by virtue of practically every APK under the sun being subject to the Google Play terms of service.

Marsymars• 19 hours ago

I thought residential proxies are already banned from SmartTV apps by virtue of practically every APK under the sun being subject to the Google Play terms of service.

The platforms in question here are webOS and Tizen, neither of which are Android or use the Google Play Store.

ranger_danger• 19 hours ago

LG webOS is not Android though, it's from the old Palm/HP devices of the early 2010s. And I'm pretty sure there are still tons of play store apps with these proxy SDKs in them, advertised/consented or not.

ssl-33• 19 hours ago

That only applies to the subset of TVs that use Google TV/Android TV.

Not so much for the rest of them that have operating systems with names like Roku TV OS, Tizen, WebOS, and Fire TV OS. They do their own things.

cognitiveinline3• 19 hours ago

Sharing a slice of your internet in a privacy preserving way in exchange for something of value, seems fair, no?

ryandrake4• 19 hours ago

Only if the app provides 1. prominently-displayed, informed consent, 2. an option to opt-out without losing app functionality, or 3. joining the botnet provides some kind of actual benefit to the user, besides just money to the developer.

LoganDark• 19 hours ago

Some residential proxy providers offer a few cents for the use of your network.

krackers• 19 hours ago

Apparently at least one of the apps mentioned does that. From the article

A Pac-Man smart TV app from Bright Data offers users the choice between viewing ads in the game or agreeing to allow their TV to serve as a residential proxy node.

cognitiveinline3• 19 hours ago

No need of (2) and (3) - the user can choose to not install/use the app. (1) is the right fair boundary.

mirashii• 19 hours ago

Add to that list respecting the TOS of the user's ISP so that the user does not get banned, and providing some sort of remuneration if illicit activity through the proxy causes problems for the primary user, and then _maybe_ you could call this all not shady as fuck.

account4216• 11 hours ago

There is really not good excuse to bundle this functionality with an unrelated app in the first place.

walrus016• 19 hours ago

Grey market residential proxy service providers are one of the most common methods of implementing bot spam, social media manipulation and plenty of straight-out fraud.

There's all kinds of things that malicious actors want to do where they value coming from an ordinary (comcast, charter, centurylink, shaw cable, whatever) residential IP.

hokumguru• 19 hours ago

I mean, some of us have legitimate business needs to get past cloudflares frankly somewhat bs gatekeeping business model, however

charcircuit5• 18 hours ago

Just because others abuse privacy doesn't mean that we should remove privacy from everyone else. They also let you get around geoblocking.

cognitiveinline3• 18 hours ago

You make a good point. I've reassessed and agree this is shady, and not a good pattern. And should be disabled/abolished.

oasisbob• 18 hours ago

No.

I'm surprised Comcast or some other ISP doesn't step in with a claim of tortious interference. Reselling or granting access to the ISPs services like this is almost always against the ISPs terms of service.

The consumer is in no place to consent to this exchange.

Dylan168073• 18 hours ago

On the other hand if you want to resell 2% of your bandwidth the ISP shouldn't have any say in that.

account4216• 11 hours ago

We have this invention called money so that individuals don't need to wrangle complex swap trades and instead sell the things (usually their time) that they are OK with selling with informed consent and buy the things they want without having to give up things they don't want to or don't understand. If selling your internet connection was a reasonable thing to do there would be dedicated apps/boxes for that instead of this being packaged into random apps.

xena• 19 hours ago

This is the best news I've heard all week. Finally good news for once!

glimshe• 19 hours ago

My TV doesn't know my router's wi-fi password.

aussieguy1234• 19 hours ago

This is the best approach

walrus016• 19 hours ago

I've said it before on HN a long time ago but I'll repeat myself, I have about a thousand times more confidence that Sony and/or Microsoft will keep their PS5 and Xbox operating systems secure and not crapped up with stuff like this, than I do that random TV manufacturers will not result in a cybersecurity or privacy disaster.

Yeah, the PS and Xbox OSes show you ads, and they have telemetry. But both companies also have an extremely important core functional need of keeping them secure, because possible fuckery with the OS could result in game piracy/DRM bypasses and a direct threat to their revenue models.

thewebguyd2• 17 hours ago

The gaming consoles aren't subsidized via the data collection like smart TVs are via content recognition (selling everything on your screen to advertisers).

Consoles are sometimes sold at a loss, but the revenue model is different. Playstation plus/game pass, a cut of game sales and microtransactions, exclusives, and accessories.

No one should ever connect their TV to the internet. There just isn't any reason to, get access to your streaming apps another way.

amazingman• 19 hours ago

Hope you don't have any open WiFi networks nearby. IMO it's better to put it on one of your networks and isolate it from the internet and other devices.

MrDrMcCoy2• 18 hours ago

If it connects to another network, it's somebody else's problem. Unless of course, it has a built in webcam or microphone.

tyre• 18 hours ago

Yes. I bought a Samsung TV and there isn’t a way to set up Art Mode without the internet. So first you have to get a raspberry pi, install pi hole, then switch your router’s DNS.

What a wild experience 2026 is. But I do feel like a wizard.

RiverCrochet3• 18 hours ago

I haven't seen any open WiFi networks around me in years. I don't think it's a thing anymore; it's definitely not something a TV company can rely on.

Hamuko• 17 hours ago

I have an open guest network with a captive portal, and not once have I seen my LG TV try to connect to it.

gboss• 19 hours ago

Pretty sure they can get internet through the HDMI cord from Roku or similar device

MrDrMcCoy2• 18 hours ago

Source? HDMI includes Ethernet in the spec, but I've never heard of any devices actually implementing it.

RiverCrochet3• 18 hours ago

That would require the Roku to specifically be set up to act as a router. You can't just connect to a random device that's not specifically a router/AP and use its internet connection.

Since Roku like other smart TV companies makes money off of user data captur, it's not incentivized to enable those conditions for a downstream device, especially if not specifically advertised as a feature.

walrus016• 18 hours ago

does a roku provide a dhcp server, issue a dhcp lease, do NAT and routing to things that are plugged into it over the 100M ethernet built into a current gen HDMI link?

mikestew• 18 hours ago

This again? Yes, it’s in the spec. No, no one has been shown to have actually implemented it. No streaming box is going to allow random devices to use their connection.

toast02• 17 hours ago

E-Arc uses the wires intended for Ethernet. Hook your Roku up to an earc port if you're seriously concerned about it.

declan_roberts• 19 hours ago

My TV thinks it's January 1st 1970.

mc3301• 18 hours ago

Every time anything asks for a DOB or anything like that, I enter the earliest date their system allows. Been doing it for decades.

I guess that might make me more trackable?

kazinator• 17 hours ago

And so it thinks it is fairly new, then, and doesn't require any tubes replaced. Should that change, it will let you know.

charles_f• 17 hours ago

My TV isn't even connected to power

s1ncere• 19 hours ago

Stop hooking up your LG tv to any network

CivBase• 18 hours ago

Stop buying LG TVs.

smcleod7• 18 hours ago

Unfortunately they make arguably the best OLEDs and webOS is pretty decent to use (especially compared to the terrible OS that Samsung and Sony run). I think the best thing people can do is update their firmware then disconnect it from the internet. Using an AppleTV or similar provides a better experience than any TVs built in apps anyway.

matheusmoreira• 18 hours ago

Aren't they the only TVs that can be jailbroken?

kaelwd2• 17 hours ago

And buy what? Smasnug? Sony? They're all uniquely shit.

5kg• 18 hours ago

Stop hooking up your LG: https://www.theverge.com/tech/967983/lg-monitors-mcafee-adwa...

ahartmetz6• 18 hours ago

Fine with Linux though :)

LG's behavior isn't fine, but their monitors don't install crapware on Linux.

MiddleEndian• 18 hours ago

My LG DualUp monitors (with no internet access) recently triggered some LG Adware Bullshit to install on my Windows laptop. So I'd say stop using LG anything (or Windows anything since they're voluntarily in on the scam too lol). If you want the 2560x2880, maybe buy the knock-off INNOCN vertical monitors.

https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1v1pkbs/lg_sp... ← examples of others who ran into the same shit

marssaxman• 16 hours ago

I would probably have a DualUp by now if I could find one available anywhere: it's a very appealing form factor. I looked at the INNOCN site, but only see normal-looking monitors there; do you have a model name or any pointers I could search for?

mikepurvis• 18 hours ago

I'm mostly very happy with my LG C4 as a home theatre centerpiece, and I did have it online so that I could use the apps for YouTube and Jellyfin. However, the lack of support for modern 4k rips (HEVC+DTS) ended up being a dealbreaker and I finally ditched the built in software for a fire stick instead.

No transcoding, no weird codec issues, just the raw files direct streamed from the underpowered Unraid box, into the back of the AVR where the audio is handled correctly and the video is sent to the screen.

kakacik• 13 hours ago

There is always android VLC app to decode anything, you just need enough power in chipset to handle that. Not perfect, had some quirks unseen on desktop VLC but generally fine.

But yeah external stick is much safer solution, then even tvs like TLC are a great brand.

michaelchisari• 17 hours ago

Never once had a problem with an LG because I've never given it internet access. A trustworthy set top box handles everything instead. Concerned that might not be an option in the future.

jmward012• 16 hours ago

That is my problem. What can you trust anymore? Is there an appliance out there that can do the basics and not be a malware gateway?

gblargg4• 16 hours ago

LG now installs adware when you merely connect one of their monitors to a Windows PC.

userbinator• 16 hours ago

13 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6759426

manarth• 15 hours ago

Want to stream Netflix? Disney+? Hulu?

You need to hook something up to a network, and another device would have similar risks.

Setting up a sandboxed VPC or auditing traffic is beyond the means of the average TV owner.

timc3• 14 hours ago

Apple TV is the usual recommendation.

qq662• 14 hours ago

and another device would have similar risks

Do you think an Apple TV and a Walmart special TV have same risks? I don't. I give the Apple device my network credentials and the TV never sees them.

coldtea2• 14 hours ago

You need to hook something up to a network, and another device would have similar risks.

Another device might not give the free reign for all shitty malware like they do. Apple TV for one wouldn't.

mlrtime3• 12 hours ago

You have 3 replies all saying the same thing, install a ATV...

But the replies are missing the point that most people aren't techies and won't go do this. They go to big box store, buy the tv, ask if it has netflix, done.

They won't (and shouldn't need to) install a ATV.

account4216• 11 hours ago

Want to stream Netflix? Disney+? Hulu?

No thanks, I prefer owning my media in a way that corporations can't just take it away whenever they feel like and where I can use (open source) players of my choosing.

pornel• 10 hours ago

The problem is that the LG company went full-spyware. It's not a mere risk, they turned hostile on their customers.

otikik• 14 hours ago

Stop buying LG

gambiting2• 12 hours ago

The problem I have is....it just works. I'm tired of having to manage 50 different devices to let my son watch some Gabbys Dollhouse on the TV. Our LG CX is now 6 years old and it just works. I only need one remote for all the apps and sound, and I don't need to worry about another device. I've tried both Apple TV and Amazon Fire Stick, and both were (subjectively) worse experiences than just using the apps built into the TV. So.....in the interest of making my life feel less like an IT admin of my own house....I think I'll just use the built in apps and keep my TV connected to the internet.

BeetleB3• 2 hours ago

I'm tired of having to manage 50 different devices to let my son watch some Gabbys Dollhouse on the TV.

Other than the TV, most people really have only one device (Roku, AppleTV, etc). Why do you need so many?

I only need one remote for all the apps and sound,

True with Roku.

TacticalCoder• 12 hours ago

Press the button to turn off the power strip when you're not watching it.

The other solution for those who have a flat white wall (or are willing to install a projection screen) and which I used for years and years: use a dumb projector. There are plenty of perfectly fine dumb projectors and they're very cheap too (compared to the equivalent TV). This also made for the largest diagonal I ever had, in a huge living room, which was really great: basically turning the living room into a mini home theater. I painted the walls etc. accordingly, including a special paint for the white projection wall and black for the side and back walls. This was a better experience than any $$$ TV.

Sadly atm I can't use my projector for my wall ain't flat and I can't install a projection screen and I've got nowhere to put my projector: I could use a short-throw one but the place ain't mine and I'm not allowed to drill holes etc.

So atm it's... Pressing the button on the power strip that powers the LG TV. I know, I know: doesn't help much when the TV is on.

Next thing to do is separate all the junk devices (TV, smartphones [the ultimate spying device btw, much more than your TV], smartwatches, tables, etc.) from your proper stuff (e.g. your important PC running Linux/FreeBSD/etc.). I use different physical LANs (and a bridge/router) but VLANs would do too.

Many cheap home routers also by default offer at least a "guest" network: a perfect place the TV and your relatives' devices when they visit and want access. Set usage quota on the guest network too.

At some point all these devices shall use other networks than yours, so you'll be sorry out of luck anyway. But as long as they don't come with their own battery, pressing the button on the power-strip is some kind of giant low-cost "hack this" middle finger.

sharperguy• 11 hours ago

I would love it if I could disable bluetooth on the TV. I have never connected it to any network and its still blaring "HELLO SOMEONE NEARBY HAS AN LG TV" to the entire neighbourhood 24/7.

4rt• 18 hours ago

lg's had a good run of being a monitor, their software was a bit shit but the hardware supported e-arc etc.

i've got 2 expensive lg tvs and i bought them because you don't need to use their remote, it just turns on and shows the picture.

jchw2• 18 hours ago

None of my TVs are connected to the Internet. That said, I could really do with a better open source fullscreen UI, especially since I mainly just want a web browser that works good. I'm just using KDE Plasma with a custom daemon to control the TV power state over an HDMI CEC adapter plus an old K830 keyboard.

I'm, frankly, a bit annoyed by this whole thing; I'd rather have USB adapter RF wireless because it is simpler to deal with vs Bluetooth, but actually I can't even find other Bluetooth keyboards that are as compelling as this K830 and worse yet, they don't even make the K830 anymore. I don't really mind KDE Plasma with just some minor customizations but I don't really like any of the options like Kodi. Maybe Plasma BigScreen will eventually be what I want for that. And finally, HDMI CEC is a pain in the ass. For reasons, I actually use an adapter to get CEC support on a normal PC platform, because most PC HDMI ports can't do it. And also, it's just a bizarre and overly complicated thing. I have it working reliably, but it took some time to iron out all the kinks, particularly because my TV responds quite differently depending on how recently it was powered off.

I really just want a big monitor and to basically just use DPMS... Like a computer does, but large computer monitors tend to be expensive and don't always have remote controls, which admittedly are handy.

saint_yossarian• 18 hours ago

K400+ user here, you might be interested in the upcoming Framework Wireless Touchpad Keyboard.

JoshTriplett3• 15 hours ago

integrated touchpad that you don’t hate.
no mouse buttons

Failed at the first sentence.

account4216• 11 hours ago

Mind sharing what HDMI CEC adapter you use?

As for remote control - why would you want one for the monitor. For the PC I'm using an Air Mouse which is just a remote gyro-based mouse with keyboard buttons with a driverless USB dongle that acts like any other USB HID. I also have a miniature no-name wireless keyboard with a touchpad but rarely need to use it.

jchw2• 1 hour ago

I am not home at the moment but I believe the setup I got working was the Club 3D CAC-1080 Display Port to HDMI adapter. The trick, as I understand it, is that these adapters support tunneling the CEC traffic to/from Display Port AUX, and many of the Linux DRM drivers support this. It has been a while since I actually set it up, but I don't remember it being particularly hard. I have a couple different adapters that theoretically support CEC I believe but that's the one I recall working.

As for remote control - why would you want one for the monitor.

It certainly isn't strictly necessary, but it remains useful for input switching, and as a convenient backup option for power/volume. In the presence of a good fullscreen UI, I could see it being useful for basic directional input as well.

You can of course go the other way and handle input switching and all else via the PC, but that does mean if the PC isn't on nothing else works at all.

symfoniq• 18 hours ago

This is madness.

Only LG themselves should be able to have this kind of invasive control over your television.

spudlyo• 18 hours ago

One day there will be a decent TV that can be relatively easily hacked to run on open source firmware. My wife and I are moving soon, and I'm happy we've decided not to have a TV in the new place. Neither of our current LG TV's have ever been connected to the network, but it will feel good when I sell or give the cursed things away.

ram_rattle• 18 hours ago

Apparently all these vendors did nothing to prevent this, a nice article from spur intelligence

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/video/how-smart-tvs-may-be-s...

boredatoms2• 18 hours ago

Tell your relatives, buy an apple tv

amlib• 18 hours ago

I don't think apple makes actual tvs

boredatoms2• 17 hours ago

Whats your point exactly? Are you purposely being obtuse?

Plenty of uninformed people let their tv on the network, they shouldn’t. A separate box should instead. Tell me I'm wrong?

0xblinq• 18 hours ago

I'm very worried with all this bullshit around TVs.

I've been running the same Samsung UE40C6530 since 2010. It's 16 f'ng years and the thing works flawlessly like the first day. No other electronic device in my life worked so well, during so long.

But I'm about to move to a new home, and it feels like it's about time to get something more modern, at least a 4k TV.

But I'm honestly totally lost at what to buy. I do not want a "Smart" tv that's slow to start, bloated with crap, installing updates every day, and maybe even spying on me.

I want a plain, old, normal TV. If possible without Android or any advanced operating system. Just a TV. I'll plug external content myself, either via a Chromecast device, or something similar. I don't want my TV to be a full fledged computer.

Is there such a thing? What would you buy nowadays? It seems you're forced to get yet another computer to maintain and be worried about whatever you buy.

Fantosism2• 17 hours ago

You buy a commercial panel used for advertising/signage that's 3x the price of the "Smart" consumer panels.

thewebguyd2• 17 hours ago

the smart consumer panels would also be more expensive if they weren't subsidized via the spyware.

kaelwd2• 17 hours ago

Are there even any OLED commercial panels with HDR and VRR?

jdmarble• 17 hours ago

If you’re fine with “okay” picture quality, try a Sceptre. You can get them on Amazon. I’ve had good success with them. I heard you can still disable some smart features on Sony TVs.

orly01• 17 hours ago

I've heard you are not forced to connect to wifi, and on most of them you can connect make it default certain HDMI input. Latency to turn on/off might be less good than the 2010 one, but other than that this might be a very good way to do it.

geor9e• 16 hours ago

If you hook an Apple TV (or similar) up to any 4k TV, and turn CEC on (to let the Apple TV control it), and never set it up otherwise, it becomes a dumb monitor.

dzhiurgis• 14 hours ago

My parents got new telco IPTV boxes and they are excellent. Even voice search in our niche language works flawlessly.

Apple TV I got them few years ago just sits there unused.

unethical_ban• 15 hours ago

My Sony tv has never connected to my network and it works great. I use an external device as the source.

dataengineer56• 14 hours ago

The new Chromecasts and Apple TVs are really pretty good. I connect my LG TV to the wifi every few months to run updates, then disconnect it after. I control my TV through the Chromecast remote, so I never see any LG dashboards/apps.

lwkl• 11 hours ago

At least with Samsung TVs you can block them from accessing the internet after setting up the TV. Just use an Apple TV or Chromecast device after that.

Rubberducky1324• 8 hours ago

I have an LG G5. I don't remember if I needed internet access to set it up, but currently I keep it offline and just use an Nvidia Shield (which is better anyway). No ACR, tracking, ads, ... in the TV itself.

By doing this you basically get a subsidized TV without paying with your data :D

BeetleB3• 2 hours ago

Same here. Same TV for the last 16 years. 1080p, but I'd rather keep it at that resolution than do the research and worry about smart TVs.

12_throw_away• 18 hours ago

42% of the apps on LG's platform have these quasi-malware SDKs in them? Seems kinda bad, whether it's due to negligence or just pure incompetence? You'd think there might be legal consequences for a corporation that lets their app store turn into a malware delivery system?

drnick18• 16 hours ago

It's not "quasi-malware," it is malware.

b3orn• 13 hours ago

15 years ago people would've called it spyware.

nikanj2• 15 hours ago

They've seen the ruckus that follows from controlling / curating the app store experience. For example, see the comments at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45017028

coldtea2• 14 hours ago

That's for a general purpose computing platform that a smartphone is.

This is for a fucking TV.

JumpCrisscross3• 15 hours ago

You'd think there might be legal consequences

I own an airgapped LG TV. Does anyone actually want to go class action/mass arb?

tjoff2• 13 hours ago

Airgapped is harder than you might think. If your TV finds an open network (neigbours?) it will use that one. And it is only a matter of time before they have cellular capabilities too.

iso16315• 15 hours ago

LG's own code is quasi-malware

Cthulhu_2• 13 hours ago

It's all above board though, as you, the user, agreed to the terms & conditions for installing said app.

This won't change unless governments create and enforce laws.

quotemstr2• 13 hours ago

It is, though. Why should I not be able to agree, with sufficiently informed consent, to route traffic through a connection I operate via a computer I own using software I've chosen of my own free will to install?

What's the difference between running a Tor exit node and a "residential proxy" except optics?

Look: I'm 100% for banning secret proxies that hide from the user, but stopping people knowingly and voluntarily running these proxies is a violation of fundamental software freedom tenets.

account4216• 12 hours ago

Terms and conditions are not the get out of consumer protections free card that you think it is.

yodon• 18 hours ago

If other non-Android-based TV manufacturers follow, this will have a much bigger impact on the spread (and cost) of scraping than either Anubis or Cloudflare.

kh2engab• 17 hours ago

Is there a (technical) difference between a residential proxy and bot network node?

Nursie• 17 hours ago

A figleaf of "We gave ourselves permission on page 247, paragraph 3 of your user agreement"

markasoftware• 16 hours ago

Residential proxies operated by "legitimate" providers can only open TCP connections, which more or less rules out DDoS attacks, which seem to be the most common use of botnets. (And all tcp connections typically have to go through the proxy providers datacenter first to get through NAT, which effectively limits the total amount of traffic/connections you can make)

account4216• 11 hours ago

TCP only does NOT rule out DDoS, it just limits it to a subset of potentially less effective methods. All DDoS means is that you get a bunch of machines hammering a system.

charcircuit5• 15 hours ago

As they are both distributed systems there will be some inherit underlying similarities, but a botnet has things like antidebug, stealth, privilege escalation, etc. They typically include attack payloads or spying features like taking screenshots, keyloggers and stealing account information. Additionally they may include further ways of spreading to other computers such as messaging people on Discord or using other vulnerabilities. They might also try and take exclusive control of the device by patching security vulnerabilities and uninstalling other malware. Well unless they sell dropper capabilities letting other people deploy malware to the machine.

charcircuit5• 17 hours ago

“The risk is amplified when consent comes from individuals within the household who use the device but shouldn’t give consent, such as minors.”

Note that the same applies for the other privacy invasive webos features. But since that doesn't harm big tech's monopoly they will conveniently avoid mentioning it.

BrenBarn• 17 hours ago

The messed up thing is that we need to rely on LG to stop allowing it rather than just making it illegal.

iugtmkbdfil834• 17 hours ago

Heh. tinfoil hat on I always suspected that the AI gods would manifest themselves through TV. Hat stays on from this point on. It is not like LG suddenly found it in their heart to stop the money flow from the offending apps. Not when combined with recent security incident at frontier labs and current admin freaking out over open models.

jmward012• 16 hours ago

Honestly I have nothing but anger for all parties involved here. We need to treat any appliance as hostile. Vote for people that will stop this stuff. Don't buy it. This is digital assault and should be treated as such.

If any of the HN crowd reading this are tech reviewers, make privacy and security a first class feature of the things you review. If it has a network connection then ask hard questions of the manufacturer about how they are managing that massive responsibility and what promises they have about how they will, and won't, use it. Ask what qualifies a 'trusted partner' and get a list of them so you can dig into them and report on how much those partners can or can't be trusted.

I really don't care how bright the screen is if this type of stuff happens. I'd rather watch nothing.

gblargg4• 16 hours ago

So does this mean that using a proxy will cause all of the "smart" features to stop working? Win-win.

jbverschoor• 16 hours ago

Thanks for the heads up, LG.

Those cheap/discount tv brands make soo much sense these days

BetterThanSober• 16 hours ago

Stop buying "smart" TV

JoshTriplett3• 15 hours ago

I'd love to. Last I checked, nobody makes large-format high-quality tandem OLEDs that aren't smart TVs.

ifh-hn• 15 hours ago

My question is how would a user know their TV is being used like this?

Also this is the reason you down download random crap onto your devices.

I have an LG that is connected on its own network with bare minimal apps (netflix, prime, etc) because it's too convenient for my family. I actually bought it because it didn't display ads on the home screen like the other smart TVs I'd researched. Thought LG was the lesser evil, turns out they're all a bad as each other.

iso16315• 15 hours ago

Only reason LG doesn't have adverts is by forcing it to use a pihole, but even that needs updating -- recently they've managed to push things through and I need to do another investigation to see what needs blocking. Trouble is I only see them when I'm not in the mood to be working, and then forget about them

regexorcist2• 13 hours ago

They hardcode DNS servers into the TV. You need a firewall in front of the pihole intercepting that traffic, I use OpenWrt.

atoav• 15 hours ago

LG is on my blacklist. That means I won't buy LG products and in my job actively fight against buying products from them. And they put themselves onto that lost with their behavior.

is_true• 11 hours ago

It's a shame because from the experience of people around me their appliances are some of the best, I mean for washing machines, fridges, etc.

awllau• 15 hours ago

What happens to the copies already installed?

Spur says these SDKs can keep running after the app is closed and only stop when the user deletes the app or opts out. LG says developers must remove them or have their apps suspended, but the article doesn’t say whether that disables existing installs. If it doesn’t, LG needs to tell affected users which apps to remove.

Does webOS have any way to kill an installed app remotely?

mastazi• 15 hours ago

I am afraid that my dumb TV, which I've been holding onto for many years, might be on its last leg.

I remember seeing privacy guides for smart TVs over the years, does anyone know a place with up to date info?

Most 55inch monitors are now "smart" sadly, so are most "digital signage" products. So there is no longer a way to get a true dumb panel at least over 50 inch

EDIT I am in Australia, there might be products that are available elsewhere but cannot be bought/shipped here

tikkabhuna• 14 hours ago

I share your disappointment. I just want a screen with a tuner. If I want any “apps”, I’ll pair it with another device which will probably be an Apple TV.

I’m starting to wonder if a monitor and a soundbar with an external tuner is possible.

crote• 14 hours ago

I don't even care about the tuner part. If I ever get the desire to watch linear TV again, I'll just get an IPTV subscription.

A decent-ish TV-sized panel with at least a single HDMI input really is all I need.

qq662• 14 hours ago

If you don't ever give your network credentials to the Smart TV you've closed off 99% of the attack surface.

Tor3• 14 hours ago

From previous discussions there are apparently TVs which will connect to any open network nearby, if it can find one.

I got myself a normal, non-smart Philips 49" TV some ten years ago, it's good, but I don't expect to be able to find something similar anymore.

cynicalsecurity• 14 hours ago

You can easily turn dumb mode on any smart TV.

JKCalhoun• 11 hours ago

I helped a friend's mom set up a new TV she bought and was unable to get the TV to "come online" without 1) giving it network access and 2) setting up an account. Only then would the TV give access to the inputs.

lifeisstillgood• 11 hours ago

Wait - how? I thought the whole reason the darn things are lower cost than equivalent PC monitors is the smart mode tracks viewing habits and seeks that to data brokers?

mancerayder2• 9 hours ago

Some have long splash screens and nag screens to punish those not on Wifi. TCL I believe was doing this, and I've read scattered reports of that behavior. Do research beforehand just in case.

kyriakos3• 14 hours ago

Don't connect your TV to the network. Use an external device for smart features like firestick, Apple tv, Google streamer etc (there are open source options too if you look around and don't mind missing some polish).

I have yet to receive a software update on any of my smart TVs that brought in any positive feature.

miki123211• 14 hours ago

researchers found that more than 42 percent of games and other apps available for download on LG’s webOS store allow unknown third-parties to route their Internet traffic through a user’s TV.

Eh, so even sources as reliable as Krebs on Security sometimes engage in bad statistics.

This is a statistic that feels significant, but actually tells you nothing. For all we know, "42% of all apps" can mean a single spray-and-pray campaign with a few hundred downloads in total, with the vast majority of users only downloading apps from the top10, which are all unaffected. Or maybe the problem is widespread across the entire distribution of app downloads, with the majority of users having at least one infected app. We don't know either way, because "42% of apps" is a completely meaningless statistic.

signalbright• 14 hours ago

It's absolutely crazy that they were accepted in the first place

Utilera• 14 hours ago

I can imagine someone choosing "no ads" without realizing they just agreed to let strangers route traffic through their home IP indefinitely

xacky2• 14 hours ago

They should be banned from all app stores and added to anti virus definitions. Many smaller sites have already shutdown due to being DDOSed. Even Wikipedia gets attacked by them.

lorreyfum• 11 hours ago

LG is malware and spyware.

Farfignoggen• 10 hours ago

"DO NOT BUY: LG’s Spyware TVs, Monitors, and Wiretapping Concerns

Gamers Nexus"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9uefFYe6bM

mancerayder2• 9 hours ago

After some research I went with a Sony Bravia. The screen is ridiculously reflective which is unusable next to any window at certain angles, and it wasn't the cheapest, but after some research since it uses that Google TV crap and has no splash screens, I could keep WiFi off on it and use my Apple TV.

TCL and now LG are to be fully avoided, Samsung isn't to be trusted (a future update if you allow it can lead to what happened here with LG). Samsung probably has the best hardware, but too bad.

If we don't vote with our wallets the enshittification of everything tech will march over and trample us that much faster.

kittikitti• 7 hours ago

An angle that's often not explored is that companies like BrightData that install spyware on your smart gadgets are based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It's not unreasonable to assume that these Israeli cybersecurity firms are also sending data to the Israeli military. While everyone is complaining about AI scrapers and bots, they aren't even looking at the main culprits.

xnx• 5 hours ago

I'm against undisclosed proxies, but I would pick pay-by-residential-proxy over pay-by-ads every time.

beej71• 5 hours ago

They just straight up ask people to be a proxy? And people say yes? SMH...

jacobgold6• 3 hours ago

US residential proxies are the bane of the internet. They're the major source of social media manipulation and spam.

Services can dramatically reduce abuse by blocking entire IP ranges based on country of origin, organization, or type (hosting providers). But a company can't block US residential IPs if it would also cut off many of their real customers.

The US government (probably the NSA) should be cracking down hard on US residential proxy networks. They're a genuine national security threat, actual data/identity loss of American citizens, act as infra for foreign covert influence campaigns, botnets used in hacking/DoS attacks, etc.

Major US ISPs (Comcast, AT&T) should detect clearly suspicious activity coming from customer IPs and warn them to scan their computers, check their TV apps, and find whatever is turning their internet into a proxy. It's very bad for the customers too (slows things down, gets their IP banned, etc)

wyldberry• 3 hours ago

I'm glad someone else is saying this. Entire companies exist (that do a great job at it) that primarily surface this information in the form of "threat intelligence" for companies to make risk decisions based off of.

dpoloncsak• 2 hours ago

Major US ISPs (Comcast, AT&T) should detect clearly suspicious activity coming from customer IPs and warn them to scan their computers, check their TV apps, and find whatever is turning their internet into a proxy. It's very bad for the customers too (slows things down, gets their IP banned, etc)

Is there incentive for them to? If anything, you might be paying extra for the data use and not even know it, right? They would lose money

jacobgold6• 2 hours ago

It may actually be costing them money through higher peak usage (requiring more capacity). I'm not sure but either way the government should have a role if market incentives aren't sufficient.

some_random• 2 hours ago

A crackdown would probably be an FBI responsibility, the NSA is not a law enforcement agency and absolutely does not have the authority.

jacobgold6• 2 hours ago

In terms of law enforcement, sure. But what we really need is competent white hat hackers doing battle with the black hats.

Even if no one goes to jail, the NSA could make residential proxies much harder to operate in the US simply by detecting them and reporting them to ISPs. It would be good for ISPs to then validate the reports properly, give warnings, etc.

pudgywalsh2• 2 hours ago

My major sources of spam traffic are Chinese and Indian residential and mobile IP blocks. So there's that.

Second, everybody screamed loudly when they were cracking down on file sharing traffic. You're saying spying on the citizens is ok when it's for this little reason over here, but not this one over there. It doesn't track.

Not to mention most ISP abuse mailboxes are automated these days because they are flooded with LLM-generated reports from "security" grifters.

The tech industry flooding the market with countless IoS (Internet of Shit) devices didn't help. This has moved way beyond accidentally installing spyware on your PC. People are intentionally bugging their homes with these devices.

I understand the FCC is trying to crack down on this stuff - starting with routers - but of course that gets pushback too. You can't win.

jacobgold6• 2 hours ago

There's no spying required. The NSA and ISPs can find open proxies through infiltration and report them to (e.g. abuse@comcast.com), then Comcast simply has to act on it robustly.

ISPs already deal with abuse reports like this, the system just isn't being operated comptently.

wnevets• 2 hours ago

Major US ISPs (Comcast, AT&T) should detect clearly suspicious activity coming from customer IPs and warn them to scan their computers, check their TV apps, and find whatever is turning their internet into a proxy. It's very bad for the customers too (slows things down, gets their IP banned, etc)

Does having TLS everywhere make this much harder?

Retr0id2• 2 hours ago

Until DoH and ECH are commonplace, DNS lookups and SNI probably leak enough for statistical analysis.

jacobgold6• 2 hours ago

Not sure how it would? Because the bad actors are remotely instructing infected computers/devices to make HTTP/TLS requests for them, so they appear totally normal to the other side.

paulddraper2• 28 minutes ago

DNS and SNI are usually not encrypted.

jhallenworld2• 3 hours ago

I have a new LG TV, holy moly what a terrible user experience. Out of the box it requires you to create an LG account. PITA, but OK. Except I was supposed to set the location first, instead I set it after. So now you have the problem that you can not log into LG.com using my own email (even from a web browser) because it says: "incorrect country". I contacted their tech support about this, the only fix is to switch back the country code on the TV (to US_Other), then delete the account from there, then set country code to US, then create it again. OMG. I guess there is no fix if TV breaks before you do this..or if you forget what the original country code was. You are then forced to use a different email for any future LG product. I notice that all LG smart products use the same phone app, BTW.

Also, I bought an LG soundbar to go along with it. You would think they would work well together. The soundbar sounds fine, but the synchronization drifts over time. I've tried optical, LG's enhanced optical (allows you to control the volume) and HDMI eARC. In theory optical in PCM mode works better, but then you give up the volume control. Why should an end customer know about any of this? Lip sync is a simple problem to solve (timing pulses and code slipping will always work) and they have failed at it.

Also: their remote sucks (compared with Roku).

Anyway, so no respect for LG.

nostrademons• 2 hours ago

I had an LG TV for work because my team developed some of the software on it. Similar experience - it got progressively worse (including the software my team developed, which in true Google fashion was deprioritized, discontinued, team laid off, and left to rot without anyone bothering to tell LG that it was no longer being maintained) until by the time I left that team it was nearly unusable as a "smart" TV and all I did was run Netflix and Disney+ on it. Then my kid broke it with a well-placed whack of a plastic sword.

Would definitely not buy with my own money. I actually really like a lot of LG's other appliances (we have a washer, dryer, and dual ovens from them that are great), but for a TV, I just want a dumb screen that I can hook an HDMI cable to and run off a computer.

mschuster91• 1 hour ago

but for a TV, I just want a dumb screen that I can hook an HDMI cable to and run off a computer.

Look into Digital Signage displays. You pay a brickload more money but get (much) higher quality in return.

krelian• 1 hour ago

I recently had to replace my 5 year old LG OLED with a new one. The UX has been downgraded to an abysmal level. It's just unfathomable how such simple UI widgets take multiple seconds to load and how can QA say "ok, that's good enough". And don't get me started about the shoehorned "AI". A feature that, if you forget to turn it off will randomly interrupt whatever you're watching to talk to you in an almost unintelligible metallic voice. The build quality of the remote control also took a nose dive. Image quality is great but the same as my old TV, no advancements there.

Laurel1234• 1 hour ago

Also it's really important to tell every guest in your home that the TV is recording everything they say or you'll be violating wiretapping laws, as per the EULA.

jhallenworld2• 50 minutes ago

The main point of selecting the country seems to be getting you to consent to the country specific EULA. There's also region-based content management, but it's secondary at this point.

nerdsniper• 46 minutes ago

Source? Wow.

reaperducer2• 42 minutes ago

I have a new LG TV, holy moly what a terrible user experience.

My LG TV doesn't support Bluetooth, and it's only maybe eight years old.

Instead of simply connecting to Bluetooth headphones, you're supposed to put some LG app on your smart phone, then sync that via wifi with another app on the TV, then connect your smart phone to the headphones via Bluetooth.

Instead, I just watch less TV and will not purchase LG in the future.

(And let's stop pretending that "LG" stands for "Life's Good" like it says on the power-on splash screen. It means "Lucky Goldstar." If life was good, I'd be able to use Bluetooth headphones.)

yumraj• 28 minutes ago

Does it not work if you don’t connect to Internet and not create an account?

n1ivih• 2 hours ago

I have a Samsung odyssey ultrawide. All I want to do is have it display what I plug into the inputs. But I constantly have to approve new terms of service, install updates and worst of all switching inputs takes forever and often leads me to some tv guide like feature where I can stream a bunch of media.

Lg, Samsung… I mean are there any companies that make a non-smart monitor? This monitor I have was highly recommended on many review sites. Are we just accepting the fact that we don’t truly get to own or control these devices? It’s so frustrating.

TitaRusell• 2 hours ago

Ha yeah just last night I had Samsung television make me agree to some new terms. Its bloody annoying when you are watching Netflix. And ofcourse they actually want you to read it.

LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

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