4 ms·

As an owner of a (2020?) LG WebOS TV, to what degree can I fight this? Any point in trying Pihole with targeted blocking of certain IPs?

bilekas 28d ago
So I have a tv of LG from the same period. I keep it dumb, not connected to the internet and just use an apple TV, so far it's a clean option. And it's always a good idea to have piHole up to, they usually have the block list updated with LG's and Samsungs urls.
- chimpontherun 28d ago
  Fun fact: some (most?) Samsung TVs of the last ~6 years can't complete OOB setup if they're connected to a PiHoled network with the most vanilla PiHole filters
- realityloop 28d ago
  The Gamers Nexus video explained that they will connect to nearby open SSID’s to send the data they have collected. So just not connecting it to your network may not be enough.
  - poolnoodle 28d ago
    Okay, that is nasty.
  - exceptione 28d ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment
  - stephen_g 28d ago
    I hear this a lot as a rumour but has it actually ever been demonstrated in the wild?
chimpontherun 28d ago
PiHole doesn't block IPs. It blocks DNS. The device have at least three ways to bypass PiHole: use external DNS directly, or pin the phone-home servers' IP addresses, or use some other protocols to carry IP resolution. I'd just open the TV and yank or desolder the mic out. Or use the TV as a dumb monitor -- don't connect it to WiFi or Ethernet. And use an external Kodi/AppleTV/whatever-rocks-your-viewing-boat
- noinsight 28d ago
  > don't connect it to WiFi or Ethernet This is not sufficient (for some of these devices) - they will automatically connect to an unsecured hotspot.
  - chimpontherun 28d ago
    well, if that was the case with my TV and/or if I was worried, I've got a soldering iron and I'm not afraid to use it
nicce 28d ago
I bought Apple TV many years ago and haven’t plugged tv into internet since.
chris_overseas 28d ago
You can (hopefully) root your TV: https://e.nya.je/getroot/ https://e.nya.je/getroot/ and then follow a guide like this to disable all the snooping: https://forum.level1techs.com/t/lg-tv-block-mini-how-to/255178 https://forum.level1techs.com/t/lg-tv-block-mini-how-to/2551... Disclaimer: I haven't tried any of this myself, I've just been looking into it as I am/was considering buying an LG TV.
- datakan 28d ago
  The broken, terrible English on that website does not inspire confidence of any kind.
lodovic 28d ago
At this point, best to just keep it disconnected. Just use an apple tv or similar. They sold us a spying device masqueraded as a smart TV. If internet is really required, I'd personally flood such an LG tv with fake data - add a raspberry pi to provide it with looped audio streams for the microphone, fake bluetooth devices, and so on. But it's still probably a drop in a bucket.
tremon 28d ago
Vote for politicians that vocally campaign against advertising surveillance.

bilekas 28d ago

So I have a tv of LG from the same period. I keep it dumb, not connected to the internet and just use an apple TV, so far it's a clean option. And it's always a good idea to have piHole up to, they usually have the block list updated with LG's and Samsungs urls.

chimpontherun 28d ago
Fun fact: some (most?) Samsung TVs of the last ~6 years can't complete OOB setup if they're connected to a PiHoled network with the most vanilla PiHole filters
realityloop 28d ago
The Gamers Nexus video explained that they will connect to nearby open SSID’s to send the data they have collected. So just not connecting it to your network may not be enough.
- poolnoodle 28d ago
  Okay, that is nasty.
- exceptione 28d ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment
- stephen_g 28d ago
  I hear this a lot as a rumour but has it actually ever been demonstrated in the wild?

chimpontherun 28d ago

PiHole doesn't block IPs. It blocks DNS. The device have at least three ways to bypass PiHole: use external DNS directly, or pin the phone-home servers' IP addresses, or use some other protocols to carry IP resolution. I'd just open the TV and yank or desolder the mic out. Or use the TV as a dumb monitor -- don't connect it to WiFi or Ethernet. And use an external Kodi/AppleTV/whatever-rocks-your-viewing-boat

noinsight 28d ago
> don't connect it to WiFi or Ethernet This is not sufficient (for some of these devices) - they will automatically connect to an unsecured hotspot.
- chimpontherun 28d ago
  well, if that was the case with my TV and/or if I was worried, I've got a soldering iron and I'm not afraid to use it

nicce 28d ago

I bought Apple TV many years ago and haven’t plugged tv into internet since.

chris_overseas 28d ago

You can (hopefully) root your TV: https://e.nya.je/getroot/ https://e.nya.je/getroot/ and then follow a guide like this to disable all the snooping: https://forum.level1techs.com/t/lg-tv-block-mini-how-to/255178 https://forum.level1techs.com/t/lg-tv-block-mini-how-to/2551... Disclaimer: I haven't tried any of this myself, I've just been looking into it as I am/was considering buying an LG TV.

datakan 28d ago
The broken, terrible English on that website does not inspire confidence of any kind.

lodovic 28d ago

At this point, best to just keep it disconnected. Just use an apple tv or similar. They sold us a spying device masqueraded as a smart TV. If internet is really required, I'd personally flood such an LG tv with fake data - add a raspberry pi to provide it with looped audio streams for the microphone, fake bluetooth devices, and so on. But it's still probably a drop in a bucket.

tremon 28d ago

Vote for politicians that vocally campaign against advertising surveillance.