this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2026
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[–] pHr34kY@lemmy.world 135 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

This is being pushed as a driver update. Drivers run in ring 0. LG could be snooping on you at a very low level here.

[–] ms_lane@lemmy.world 78 points 3 weeks ago

But they promised that their installer isn't sending any data back to LG!

They didn't promise the app itself isn't snooping or that McAfee isn't snooping, but the installer isn't snooping, they swear!

[–] voytrekk@sopuli.xyz 41 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This is not a driver update. This is adware that is automatically installed with the device being connected. It is the same as how synapse is automatically installed with Razer products. If it was a driver, you wouldn't be able to uninstall the software and have the device still work, not that a monitor needs a driver anyway.

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[–] artyom@piefed.social 132 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

The McAfee ads are just a symptom of a much bigger problem that is Windows allowing 3rd parties to install malware on "your" computer without your consent, or even your knowledge. Which makes Windows itself malware.

[–] random_character_a@lemmy.world 29 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

always has been

[astronauts_on_the_moon.gif]

[–] rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world 15 points 3 weeks ago

🌎 🧑‍🚀🔫🧑‍🚀

[–] tabular@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

We need to be the one in control of our computing for it to be 'our' computer, instead of Microsoft's. That requires being able to change what it does via the source code, and sharing those changes with others. Windows is proprietary, no source code and it's illegal to share it - it can never be 'your' computer like that.

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[–] ryper@lemmy.ca 82 points 3 weeks ago (8 children)

From the comments on the article:

  • Open SettingsSystemAboutAdvanced system settingsHardware tabDevice Installation Settings.
  • Select No to Automatically download manufacturer apps and icons.
[–] SouthEndSunset@piefed.blahaj.zone 27 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

How reliable is this?

Call me cynical or whatever you like, I don’t trust anything that isn’t a physical switch.

[–] ryper@lemmy.ca 17 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I already had it set, and so far my LG monitor hasn't caused an LG software to be installed. But I'm on Windows 10 and I guess there's a chance this software is only for 11.

[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 26 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Microsoft tends to undo settings they don’t like during updates.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's so fucking annoying too

[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 weeks ago

It should be a crime.

[–] urushitan@kakera.kintsugi.moe 12 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Probably reliable until the next "feature and experience update" where they move or remove the setting and default it back to allow for all users again and all the soulless advertisers cum their pants because their malware delivered impression counts just went up again

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[–] ShredderFeeder@shredderfood.net 63 points 3 weeks ago (10 children)

So LG is on the list of never buy again...good to know...

Pity, they used to make good shit..

[–] axh@lemmy.world 35 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

I am worried that soon we will need a "decent enough to buy" list because it will be difficult to find anything that is not on the "never buy again" list.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

There are only a few companies that make the actual panels (regardless of how the finished TV or monitor was branded), and two of the biggest (LG and Samsung) are the worst offenders in terms of enshittification. It would not take much at all for the availability of new non-enshittified TVs and computer monitors to drop to literally zero.

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[–] nycvin@lemmy.world 47 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

I was trying to figure out why someone would install a third party driver for a monitor, of all things, and then I read this

Further, Microsoft allows Universal Windows Platform device apps “to automatically install when the user connects their device to the PC”

Is this for real? Does it at least prompt with a pop-up first?

[–] towerful@programming.dev 20 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

Let me guess...

Users never read prompts, so we have removed them

Kinda like

Users never update, so we have forced that

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[–] starblursd@lemmy.zip 14 points 3 weeks ago

It does not prompt it just does it in the background along with the driver install when you first plug it in

[–] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That's a bunch of words, but they don't really answer your question about why a monitor needs 3rd party drivers.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Display Port has fancy features like Display Stream Compression where the driver compresses the image going to the screen.

The solution would be for MS to move those features into Windows rather than allow manufacturers flexibility in implementation. MS would get bad publicity for monopoly and then have to deal with fixing Windows for every off brand monitor because the manufacturer didn't follow the standard exactly.

[–] zurohki@aussie.zone 8 points 3 weeks ago

Long time Linux user here.

Microsoft would fuck up their implementation of the standard, monitors would all be designed around Microsoft bugs and then OSs that implement the standard correctly have to break their stuff so that Windows monitors will work.

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[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 weeks ago

No. It's supposed to be for essential device drivers, and companions apps like webcam image control.

[–] ooterness@lemmy.world 40 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

Any statement by Microsoft that doesn't include, "so we banned them from publishing auto-installed drivers for a year" is an insufficient response to this crime.

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 12 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah this was a significant non answer. "We want to sound like we're doing something without doing anything"

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[–] percent@infosec.pub 38 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Many years ago, when I was a PC repair tech, software that would behave like this was generally considered to be malware. Seems a little ironic that they're McAfee ads.

Not really surprised though. That's just how the Windows ecosystem is. I've never seen any other OS constantly support so much weird advertising bullshit all the time.

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[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 36 points 3 weeks ago

Good reason not to use LG or Windows.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 34 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

We’ve connected with the team at LG and as an immediate next step, they have agreed to disable the McAfee pop-up from their app. We appreciate LG working with us toward a shared goal of a better experience for our mutual customers. We will keep improving here with our ecosystem partners.

Corpo speech is awful, but this AI corpo speech somehow is even worse. Someone literally asked AI to come up with some transparent lies to make people believe that they care

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[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 32 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

holy hell.just bought a monitor yesterday. so glad i just narrowly dodged the LG bullet by this ->\<-much and went a different brand. whew omfg...

wait...what am i worried about? i installed linux. hah hahahaha HAHAHAHA. MUAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHHAHAHAAAA.

[–] Luffy879@lemmy.ml 13 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)
[–] wheez@lemmy.zip 19 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Installing Linux justifies evil villain laughter, best feeling in the world

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[–] Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus 31 points 3 weeks ago

My Linux does not do this shit. get rekt MS and LG.

[–] bitteroldcoot@piefed.social 24 points 3 weeks ago

Microsoft responds to accusations that they are selling back door access to their OS, by issuing a vague and obtuse statement, that kind of maybe says that they asked the offenders to stop making the back door's existence so glaringly obvious.

[–] crazyfrog9@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

LG is such a sketchy company. Their TVs are spyware and their fridges break down faster than any other brans

[–] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (4 children)

Honestly, fridges are a total crapshoot these days. If you have a 15+ year old fridge, never replace it, get it repaired, the quality level in new fridges is terrible.

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[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 16 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I guess this shows how out of touch I am because how the fuck is a peripheral auto installing software on my computer in the first place? how does Microsoft allow that?

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 15 points 3 weeks ago

Old school way was installing peripheral, or even sometimes internal hardware drivers and apps, manually from the vendors website or disk. Modern Windows checks your hardware and the vendors send MS updates to the MS "repository" of drivers and apps. As part of the auto updates Microsoft pushes your system will be fed vendor updates for your hardware.

For the layperson this is helpful, but it is annoying as heck when you have your own application that needs a specific driver version and windows keeps trying to overwrite it.

[–] slowtrain33@lemmy.ml 15 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

“Serial killer responds to drive by shooting.”

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[–] deliriousdreams@fedia.io 15 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

My understanding is that LG broke the TOS and Microsoft asked them to stop instead of penalizing them under the agreement they broke. They wouldn't do this for the average consumer and so the average consumer should jump ship to something else.

[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

..like linux. and then be done with all this shit.

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[–] deczzz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 3 weeks ago

Fyi Microsoft did not respond for comments

[–] Simulation6@sopuli.xyz 12 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Isn’t LG digging their own graves by pissing off their customers so much? No one is going to buy their shit anymore.

[–] cheat700000007@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

But everyone's doing it

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[–] tal@lemmy.today 10 points 3 weeks ago

There are so many surfaces in this world that suffer from wasted potential, are not yet displaying advertisements.

[–] socphoenix@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago

This is such a nothing statement from Microsoft. I mean good on them for asking LG to remove the adware for Mcafee specifically but they don’t say anything about keeping this stuff from other auto-installed apps or making the apps ask for user permission (let alone not enabling this bullshit by default).

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