Talk about a grotesque invasion of privacy:
"Smart TVs from Samsung and LG take screenshots of what you are watching even when you are using them to display images from a connected laptop or video game console"
How can this possibly be legal?
Here's why: Congress isn't just indifferent to your privacy. It is actively complicit with big corporations -- and law enforcement -- in embedding surveillance into everything we do.
@dangillmor I just got one of these in Japan and went in and turned off all the targeted ads and tracking. Will it actually do it? Probably not. That said, as a way to sit on the couch and watch some YouTube, it's great.
@sleepytako @dangillmor if you can, keep the TV from connecting to the internet. I use a miniPC running Jellyfin and Servarr on Linux for media consumption, it’s connected but the TV is not. I don’t use any of the so-called smart TV features. You can get all of the streaming with none of the BS.
@AlexanderMars @sleepytako @dangillmor
Even better, just buy a large computer monitor.
@robloblaw @sleepytako @dangillmor I looked into that and this is anecdotal, but the 4K TV I got was almost half the price of a similar spec Monitor. Just easier to not connect it to the internet. Plus, my god would someone kill all that lame RGB shit, it’s like everything needs to be a reject from peewee’s playhouse with that crap.
@robloblaw @sleepytako @dangillmor side note, I also looked at projectors, because many of those don’t bother with all the smart junk and only need HDMI or whatever. If your room’s daylight situation and budget allows, might be better solution for some.
@dangillmor Im a little surprised we got this level of surveillance, considering Gen X were mostly conspiracy theorists regarding surveillance & we all grew up using code words on the phone, recognizing the feds watched everything publicly, and unplugging our electronics that had “standby” power. I’m bewildered & amused at my friends that I know were like that & yet they stay on all their socials & love all the electronics & their surveillance tech for convenience now.
And many Congresspeople are shareholders of the companies they are supposed to keep an eye on. They are on both sides of the counter.
@dangillmor Seriously? Where is that old tube TV
@ai6yr @dangillmor Does this apply to whatever is hooked up to said TV like PCs?
@deewani @ai6yr @dangillmor Article is paywalled for me but going by the article headline the answer to your question is Yes.
If anyone has a list of affected TV models please post.
All the more reason to seek out dumb tv's. I wonder if projectors are also affected.
@frigidcode @dangillmor There's an article by @themarkup on how to disable this but I've also seen blocklists for Pi Hole that specifically target smart TV telemetry https://themarkup.org/privacy/2023/12/12/your-smart-tv-knows-what-youre-watching
@frigidcode I have #NextDNS, works great.
@frigidcode Whle I am not @dangillmor and don't have a "smart" LG TV, I do have "smart" Vizio TV, several Rokus, and a Pi-hole using the Smart-TV Blocklist[1] with RegEx extension[2] in addition to the Firebog Ticked lists[3] and block cloudservices.roku.com to return my Roku home screen to that of a streaming media player rather than an advertising screen.
I don't use the TV for streaming, but have it configured to do so and leave it connected by Ethernet so that I can control it from an app, cast to it, receive updates, and be ready to stream if ever I so wish. Despite this and the fact that I have it configured for as much privacy as permitted, the TV is constantly trying to connect to many external services. The Pi-hole blocks many of the connections.
While I do not know if the end points for LG's spyware are blocked by the aforementioned lists or if LG tries to circumvent local network policy by silently using its own name service or other measures, I would expect DNS filtering with suitable blocklists to be mostly - if not completely - effective against the spying... for now. The significant majority of the audience will simply connect this (and every other "smart" device) to their only wireless network and click through the initial setup process as quickly and carelessly as needed to get to the streaming.
See also Sharon Harding's recent article, "Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse"[4].
[1] https://perflyst.github.io/PiHoleBlocklist/SmartTV.txt
[2] https://perflyst.github.io/PiHoleBlocklist/regex.list
[3] https://v.firebog.net/hosts/lists.php?type=tick
[4] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/08/tv-industrys-ads-tracking-obsession-is-turning-your-living-room-into-a-store/
@dangillmor In the EU, that _isn't_ legal.
@nat @dangillmor Unless you write the code to conform to the law.
@dangillmor Remember when we had laws against wiretapping? We should do that again but for modern technology.
@vadhakara @dangillmor i believe this is one of the many reasons why who is in charge of the FCC matters so much, & why the supreme Court overturning the Chevron precedent is so scary, bc protections for Internet use have depended largely on whether they are considered a telecommunications technology or not. Which has varied depending on who was having the FCC, but could be settled forever in one direction or another soon if a court finds it relevant to clarify ambiguous legislature about it.
@itsmeholland @vadhakara @dangillmor AT&T and T-Mobile already are exploiting it for example: https://www.techdirt.com/2024/09/24/t-mobile-leans-on-recent-supreme-court-chevron-ruling-to-insist-the-fcc-cant-require-all-phones-be-unlocked/
Our new Samsung would stay on in stealth mode after we turned it off, and scan the network it was on every few seconds.
We discovered this because it would occasionally screw up and switch itself fully on in the middle night. It's now plugged into a wall switch which is turned off every night. And sequestered on a network where it won't see anything interesting
@me_valentijn @dangillmor
I just realized I can put my LG onto the IOT network for my router instead of the main network.
@dangillmor Paywalled article, are you able to share the full text?
@noxypaws I also hit the paywall. IN this case the top of the story tells you pretty much everything.
@dangillmor Yikes, there's something to be said for dumb TVs. I still use a dumb TV.
@cowvin
Me too. I hope I will always have that purchase option.
@dangillmor FTC went after Vizio for this very thing back in 2017. Do not connect smart TV to any network. And from experience don't even do it for minutes to allow firmware upgrades. In my case it only diminished usability.
@mdb @dangillmor my #LG OLED used to show previews of whatever you selected on the home screen. Then I allowed it to update "WebOS". Now it shows ads instead.
@dangillmor I just never entered the wifi password even though the tv constantly nags me for internet access. I just watch over the air and stream from an Apple TV box. Maybe I am delusional to think that Apple isn’t spying on me too.
Some models will automatically join any *open* WiFi network (rare, but some people still think they're doing a good thing by leaving theirs open) without asking or telling you.
@clint @dangillmor it doesnt have a camera, so theres that?
Back in the 70s we used to say "While you are watching tv, your tv is watching you" of the coming cable evolution. Streaming and wireless means "While you are watching your phone, your furniture, appliances, lights, door bells, bed, watch, ring, toilet, are monitoring you."
@dangillmor Should help to avoid connecting the TV to the internet. And rather only connect a computer or TV box or similar.
@Passable6192 @dangillmor I wonder how long until they embed cellular connections for this sort of shit.
@draeath @dangillmor Well, it depends on how many of us blocks. I recon most people don't care, so they might not bother.
@dangillmor Can’t imagine current EU laws allowing this… at least I hope those rules are in place and enforced?
@dangillmor
Well, They got me then.....Cause I HATE TRUMP
I Want the Legal System to work
I want Justice for the American people
I want the GOP to pay the price for their lies & Corruption
1984 is a little late..... we all knew it was coming
@dangillmor but we can’t take screenshots of TV content because of copyright…
Is anyone else thinking about how 1984 begins?
@dangillmor They give you free TV channels...for free!
Don't ask questions just consume product.
We have been a "self surveilling society" for some time now, it's crazy we spend all this money on security so we can spy on each other better, and do the cops job for them.
congress just like the united nations is just a citadel of meaningless chatter with no real substance
@dangillmor almost everyone have home router, just block it
@dlugasny @dangillmor You hang with an unrepresentative crowd. Remember that 'almost everyone' has no detailed knowledge of technology, and no need for this knowledge in their everyday life. They know that the router is the box that brings internet into their home, and how to enter a password to connect to it, and that is all they need to know.
@dangillmor I think companies forgot that people can just NOT connect their TVs to the Internet
In surveillance capitalism, TV watches you!
@dangillmor I hope when I need a new TV there is still a stupid TV option. I’m not hooked up to anything through my TV. Just use it to watch DVDs.
@PandaChronicle @dangillmor Me too. Router turned off when not using.
@PandaChronicle @dangillmor like I want the cool new screen that's great in bright light, but none of this crap
@dangillmor@mastodon.social I need to remember to brush my hair before my tv photographs me
@dangillmor pay walled article is a cherry on top
@dangillmor and my Samsung performs worse every day. The nonsense that they push through has ruined the TV. It's no longer a display device, it's obviously up to some shit
Gotta be kidding…
@dangillmor just don't connect to the Internet. My smart TVs are dumb. No Internet and antenna
@dangillmor @GottaLaff Don’t put your TV on the internet. Just don’t do it.
@dangillmor I’ve disabled mine from accessing the wifi. It asks every 2 weeks to connect. Nope, hopefully this is enough.
@dangillmor I have developed the software for such platforms, and I will not trust my "smart TV" (the only ones you can purchase as commodity items) with any internet access, at all. It gets an HDMI input from my computer, or maybe a Roku/AppleTV device if I trust it this week.
Zero trust for my TV platform security, not trusting it with my WiFi network creds or the ability to upload screenshots to their Command and Control infrastructure.
@dangillmor
I trust my Hyundai car with its own LTE connection (that I can't verifiably disable) even less.
@jab01701mid @dangillmor i am going through this - keep asking the dealer! making noise and demanding their time is the only way i can think of to impact.
i wondered if you can report the imei of the car to be blocked by the celluar provider? (its yours now, right??)