this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2026
723 points (99.6% liked)

Technology

87896 readers
3960 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/51634640

A new Gamers Nexus investigation found a retail LG TV actively scanning the local network for phones, laptops, smartwatches and other connected devices, while also capturing microphone audio when the screen appeared to be in standby. The investigation found voice data being stored locally even after the TV was disconnected from the network, with the queued data uploaded once connectivity returned. Researchers also uncovered webOS vulnerabilities that could potentially turn the television into a remotely controlled surveillance device. The really unsettling part isn't just the advertising angle. It's the fact that a consumer television can sit inside your trusted network, enumerate other devices, access a microphone, store collected data locally and communicate with external infrastructure. Put that same device in a corporate office, hospital, hotel or conference room and the security implications become considerably more serious. I went through the investigation in detail, including the network scanning, microphone behavior, ACR, webOS attack surface, offline data collection and practical mitigations

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] yaroto98@lemmy.world 77 points 1 day ago (2 children)

And according to the article the data collection runs even if it's disconnected. So, don't ever connect it to the network. As soon as you do everything gets uploaded.

[–] BurgerBaron@quokk.au 8 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Could I burn a hole through a WiFi chip with a soldering iron?

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 5 points 11 hours ago (1 children)
[–] BurgerBaron@quokk.au 1 points 7 hours ago

Oops I meant to reply to the person saying Gamer's Nexus found LG televisions connect without permission to any insecure Wi-Fi networks within range in your neighbourhood. Otherwise it'd seem a bit extreme to burn a hole through it :p

My TV is too old for this to matter yet but I'd research a way to physically disable network hardware before buying any specific model next time.

[–] baines@lemmy.cafe 5 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (4 children)

how is it collecting and sending data if not connected to a network?

i read the article, it still needs a connection

[–] WereCat@lemmy.world 7 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

It’s not sending them, just collecting them. Then it sends them the moment you connect. They even transcribe speech to text via mic, according to GN they send about 4GB/month… IN TEXT FILES!

[–] willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

The person you are replying to said that the smart TV collects spy data onto a hard drive even when it's not connected.

Then once the TV acquires a connection, it dumps the entire drive worth of spy data to the mothership.

The danger here is obvious, I think.

[–] baines@lemmy.cafe 2 points 6 hours ago

i just misread their post originally

[–] Cheebus@lemmy.world 3 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

You know how some people rent their wifi routers?

That’s the backbone

[–] baines@lemmy.cafe 2 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

if it’s connecting without your explicit permission each time how us that not a worm

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 6 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Because it is done by a wealthy corporation. See also: rootkits from Sony.

[–] baines@lemmy.cafe 1 points 6 hours ago

that shit should have been a jail term

but i stopped buying sony over it

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 0 points 11 hours ago

You give it explicit permission when you let it on your LAN without any firewall rules or DNS filtering.