It seems to be related to some advertising push from a partner named Alfonso that is gathering information cross-platform anything that appears on your screen and pushing advertising to you during playback.
Hopefully not, but that’s what it looks like from early reading.
My LG CX has been blocked from the network for years, starting from the instant the fucker popped up some notice about some shit that wasn’t relevant to the TV displaying content.
Get that shit airgapped. Use a Steam Deck or an old PC tower or laptop to take over for the builtin stuff.
This. Treat it like a fancy monitor, and run whatever you need on an external device. You can use an old laptop or a newer raspberry pi
If you buy the TV and they don’t watch your shit. then change TOS to watch your shit. They should refund a percentage if you return the TV. They changed the deal after the fact. Should be illegal.
I agree 100%.
And you speak like Rorschach in The Watchmen.
This is one of my pet peeves. With these modern internet connected devices, manufacturers can just change the terms and conditions on you after you’ve made the purchase. OK, so would it be fair to say I can also change the terms and conditions, like for example this devalues my product and I want part of my money back?
It’s such bullshit, especially with something like a phone or a TV, the software is a big part of why I select a certain device to purchase over another. I then want that devices to behave exactly like when I purchased it. Being connected to the internet means it requires regular updates for security. But these days that also means fucking with the features and the EULA, I hate that shit.
Didn’t some very clever person send a company his own change of terms and conditions? I think I remember something like that.
I wish I was an extremely smart lawyer type person and could jack them up like that myself.
There’s been quite a few class actions over this. A famous one is sony dropping the ability to install linux on the ps3.
…Stop using the “smart” services…? Yeah, definitely that.
My LG TV is not connected to the internet.
Very smart. Do you live alone? My family is down with the sickness.
The TV is essentially used as a dumb monitor and has an Apple TV and Chromecast plugged into it.
I’ve got a Fire in the back of mine which I want everyone to use, but everyone just uses the LG interface except me.
Of course it screws up all the time, and when it does my first question is, “Hey did you try what you’re doing on the Fire plugged into the back to see if it worked on that?”
Not like I love the fire either, but pick your poison, right? Apple, Amazon, Google, LG. Which large tech company would you like to milk your information?
I have an old laptop running LibreELEC (literally) strapped to the back of my TV. With a PC connected remote it works great.
That’s the way we do it, Dave! Making fire with sticks!
Sounds like it’s time to block the TV from the network and just play dumb lol
They’ll never use the LG interface again if you just block its Mac adresses from your router.
I’m tech support in the house.
You want me to have to admit I can’t fix something?
It’s easy. “They must have changed something and it broke. Luckily I planned ahead and got the firetv so you could still watch everything as usual”.
Bonus points because it’s not a lie, they changed the tos, and you are now this clever guy that prepared a plan b in case something stopped working because you didn’t want them to suffer. Intelligent, loving Melatonin.
To be honest I would, the more they think you can fix anything the more annoying they are about fixing everything even if it’s not even possible. From my experiences in the past I just would tell them there was a update and it stopped the TV from connecting to online and there’s nothing you can do about it
☝️ Evil genius
“I fixed it so our personal information doesn’t get sold to the highest bidder.”
does the fire stick have the ability to wake the tv up? in that case, just hide the TV remote.
That’s precisely how we use it.
Lol, that makes it better?
Yes from a hardware and user experience perspective, and a more pessimistic maybe/not really from a privacy perspective. I think smart TVs are a little more aggressive with their anti user changes because they see it as a captive audience. They market the hardware specs, then add ads to the UI. Streaming sticks really only have their user interface and user experience to market, so they’re a little less aggressive with the negative changes.
yes
So replacing one spying device with another is better?
That’s like saying that all spying is equal and all information is of equal value.
yes
That’s a pretty stupid take.
Time for a Pi-Hole or similar if you don’t already have one.
Pihole block list for TVs: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Perflyst/PiHoleBlocklist/master/SmartTV.txt
If your router supports blocking, you can just do it manually one by one and see when things break.
Read carefully, most of those do not need to be accepted or agreed to.
Always assume they are trying to trick you into thinking you have to agree to new legally optional features.
The good news is, even if you did accidentally agree to them, you can revoke it deep in the settings menu.
Thank you, I already got that good advice from another awesome person like yourself! Not only was I able to avoid falling for their trap, but I unchecked some options I had apparently checked in the past!
The ole Lemmy reversearoo!!! Thanks as always,
🎵 I get by with a little help from my friends! 🎶
My LG, and all other TV’s in my home are disconnected from the internet, because of ACR and ads. I use a seperate setup box. I did have a pihole blocking most of the smart tv telemetry, but I still did not trust the smart part of my tv.
Offline.
Mostly just use my Kodi/Shield setup+my 4kUHD player.
Disconnecting it from the internet should do the trick.
Play porn 24/7
So just carry on as normal?
Stay the course captain
It looks like you only have to agree to the first two options, if I’m reading correctly. Definitely second the pi-hole option if that isn’t the case though…super easy to find telemetry domains based on what still works after blacklisting something (you can also find lists online).
Oh my that really helped, thank you so much.
I really was freaking out there thinking I had to agree to all that crap.
A 100% explore the pi-hole thing. Plus why don’t we all become multi-billionaires by selling TVs that just TV? And toasters that just toast? Smartphones that do things that you put on them, but don’t do things that you don’t?
How about we start a company that makes shit that does what it’s supposed to do and doesn’t do extra shit? (…And encourage an active and open plug-in community)
There are two problems with scaling back to the old way of doing things: 1) enshitification and 2) endless seeking of upward growth and profit.
This case is especially egregious since it’s not an extra thing that made this TV look like a good deal at Target/BestBuy/whatever. Instead, it’s a secondary way for LG to directly monetize your use of the appliance (ads and data). So, they’ve all but given up trying to make a better or more cost-effective TV and are just figuring out how to charge you rent for it instead.
Well it’s just like the health industry really. Why sell you a cure, when they can sell you a prescription for life.
“Prescription for life” is rarely actually the situation. I assure you, they’d much rather garnish your wages for life in exchange for curing your cancer than bankrupt you on chemo until you die. Vaccines are encouraged despite reducing your odds of needing lifelong treatments as is quitting smoking and getting exercise.
No they’re greedy and will have their money, but they’ll do it with shit like evergreening patents or just taking all your money or developing a new medicine with less than sufficient research to verify its efficacy or safety.
Sorry, I see “patient for life” rhetoric routinely used against the disabled and trans people who have medication we rely on that isn’t even particularly profitable as it’s long been in the public domain
Wait are you trying to say that pharmaceutical companies spend as much or more time working on tours for diseases as they do on treating symptoms? I think I disagree with you although I don’t have any data. I can’t remember outside of vaccines the last time I heard of anything getting cured.
I have to admit I don’t really understand your point, but it sounds a lot bigger than this thread. I don’t know if you’ve posted before but maybe you should organize what you’re trying to say and make it a post so other people can interact with it and it can get more visibility than just this comment on an unrelated topic.
It sounds like you might have a lot to say on this.
Making a top level post on lemmy correcting common misinformation in a field that’s highly politicized and not an area I have professional level expertise in sounds like a thoroughly unpleasant experience. I just wanted to correct it where I saw it
I didn’t really understand the correcting misinformation part of your comment though. Are you saying that big pharma DOES work on cures as a goal, or that ongoing prescriptions are not part of a plan that they have to make money? I guess that’s why I’m thinking a post might be an order because it doesn’t seem like you’re able to get enough information in a comment.
At least for someone like me, who isn’t really very intuitive and also isn’t particularly smart, so I benefit a lot from the ongoing discussion that comes from replies to a post more than I do from a single comment from someone.
I particularly didn’t understand this sentence:
I assure you, they’d much rather garnish your wages for life in exchange for curing your cancer than bankrupt you on chemo until you die.
Why would you assure me of that? Maybe if you could expand on it and ELI5, I might be able to get what you’re saying a little better.
Glad it helped! I just factory reset my Sony Bravia the other day so it’s fresh in my memory. Agree on all fronts! Couldn’t live in today’s world without my pi-hole 😅.
I use a Roku and the Roku remote instead of the TV one. The Roku remote has power, volume, and mute buttons that control the TV. And that’s really all you need. Is there a similar remote for Fire Stick?
Yep, it’s very similar to the Roku, which I also have on other TVs and have used in the past on this one, but the fire also has the ability to sideload akp apps and can be a lot more versatile than the Roku.
I have retroarch loaded on my fire, and I can grab a Bluetooth controller and play some old Nintendo if I want. Took a little configuring, but I enjoy that kind of thing.
At first I will tell you the fire has a very ugly interface. Lots of banner advertising at the top and looks very messy and crowded. You just have to get used to the ugly. It’s no Roku in that respect. Roku is much cleaner.
I like them because they’re so cheap. Plus SmartTube is the only way I can bear to watch youtubes on the TV anymore.
Disconnect from the internet. Buy Mi Box S 2nd gen & update it. Root it(optional). Debloat, install Kodi, SmartTube or Stremio. I recommend FLauncher for alternative launcher.
Tried this mi box a few years ago and I couldn’t figure it out… It was like crippled android. Couldn’t find the apps that I wanted, keyboard didn’t have my language available so I was missing characters that I need to access my smb share where I would have had the apks. Got mad and threw it out the window. Went looking for it the next day as I wanted to return it, I’m poor so I can’t waste money like that, but my neighbor was outside just yelling something about his car’s windshield, so decided to stay indoors. The next day it was gone, so I bought a used cheap mini pc, installed mint on it and been using it with a remote that has kb and trackpad, 5/5.
Yar, matey! I’ll be looking into these suggestions!
Any tv box will do but with this box you can retain root while still having Widevone L1 & Dolby Vision
Noice.
I have my LGs connected, but logged out.
It’s a hassle in that it requires to log in and then back out for mandatory updates of some apps (others will update without a logout, for some reason), but at least it removes the need to agree to a whole bunch of their garbage and add it to an identifying account.
I would keep it offline and use a set-top box, but I have family members that aren’t tech savvy and won’t want more hassle than pressing the “Netlfix” button on the remote.
I’ll say that even they are increasingly annoyed at the constant cookie prompts during live TV watching. Honestly broadcast TV is an absolute hellscape these days.
Honestly broadcast TV is an absolute hellscape these days.
As a former broadcaster, I just want to point out that actual broadcast TV is the one place you won’t get this. Plug an antenna into the back of your TV and you’ll get the signals from your local station with none of the tracking. It’s a one-way street; the transmitter antenna pumps the signal out from however many miles away and gets nothing back from you. Your local station probably prefers that you watch that way or on a traditional cable box (cable companies usually have to pay the local stations); they don’t really get much from you watching a streaming service. The streaming services like Peacock or Paramount+ let the networks largely bypass the local stations.
No, you absolutely get this.
Maybe because cookie warnings are mandatory here, I am PAINFULLY aware of when the layer of TV malware is pulling info to go along with the TV broadcast. I dismiss advertising cookie warnings in three separate TVs on a daily basis. Once per channel, even. It’s incredibly obnoxious.
For the record, the data mining is not happening over the broadcast. It’s the TV software that is pulling watch data and then repackaging along with the broadcaster and selling it to advertisers. I know because they are mandated to disclose it, so they make me read about it a dozen times a day.
Maybe because cookie warnings are mandatory here, I am PAINFULLY aware of when the layer of TV malware is pulling info to go along with the TV broadcast.
Is this because you have internet connected TVs when you’re watching OTA?
Sometimes the TV, sometimes the settop cable box that also handles broadcast TV (and data mines it). Because, as I said elsewhere, family members are not tech-savvy and want the ability to watch streaming services from their remote without having to switch back and forth to multiple devices depending on what they want to watch.
But to be clear, this is with the TVs logged off from first party services. The data gathering is just baked into the TV’s OS.
But to be clear, this is with the TVs logged off from first party services. The data gathering is just baked into the TV’s OS.
I think we’re in agreement that its baked into the TV, so the solution (in most people’s cases) is to not connect the TV directly to the internet so irrespective of what the OS may want to do it wouldn’t have the ability to. I understand in your case you have folks in your household that are requiring that direct connection.
Perhaps a strategy in the future for you would be to buy a replacement TV without Smart built in so that there wouldn’t even be the option to attach it to the internet.
Yeah, but then what? I mean, at least one of the TVs isn’t using the TV OS, it’s using the cable box. And guess what? the exact same malware is baked into the cable box’s OS.
And of course the same data tracking is baked into the apps themselves, and it’s baked into the Apple, Google and Amazon mainstream versions of add-on support. And on the Microsoft and Sony consoles that will do the same service for some streaming tools.
So yeah, if you’re tech-savvy you can either block ads upstream or set up a dedicated media device built from the ground up for non-shittified streaming while keeping legacy old-school non-cable broadcast running like it’s the 20th century but in the real world that’s a protest action, not a functional service.
Yeah, but then what? I mean, at least one of the TVs isn’t using the TV OS, it’s using the cable box. And guess what? the exact same malware is baked into the cable box’s OS.
Perhaps I misunderstood what problem you’re trying to solve.
My understanding of the problem you’re trying to solve was ads being offered up directly on your TV because they were injected on top of the content you’re displaying. This could be in the form of idle time ads where you pause TV and the TV knows this and displays ads over top of your paused content. Or even some of the most insidious ones that overlay ads on top of your content in motion. Even OTA isn’t fully immune. ATSC 3.0 has this kind of tracking and response built into it if you allow it by hooking it up to the internet. All of the statements I’ve made are to remove this type of ad interaction.
With your recent statements I think you’re talking about is simply ad tracking in the sense of data collected on your TV is then used by advertisers to serve you ads on your computer, phone, and tablet interactions. Is that right? If so, the only answer there is consumption of TV content completely offline (DVD/Bluray) or OTA TV on a device not connected to the internet.
What else would you use to watch? I used to have my TV offline and watch through a Firestick and airplay, but now the Firestick is worse than the TV apps. I need a new media streamer, but even Roku has enshittified. At this point my only hope is Apple but Apple TV hasn’t been updated in three years
…. Or I might just give up, since Netflix decided my TV is not part of my household so I need a 2fa every time I want to watch.
Still very happy with the shield pro. Old as sin but does everything.
Wow, even has Apple TV+, which the Fire Stick doesn’t. Fairly expensive but the description looks hood
Still has an active hacking community for it, you can do quite a lot with it if you want. Definitely put a non oem loader on it.
You’re asking the wrong person. I mostly watch stuff on a Windows tablet. I’m hardly your prototypical media consumer.
But when I do want to watch something on a nice screen it’s an LG or Samsung TV where I haven’t logged in and turned on as many privacy settings as possible. Mostly I use a local Plex server, and I do have a Windows PC hooked up to a TV as a media center and gaming device.
IMO there isn’t a “good experience silver bullet” thing out there. You’re navigating like three layers of advertising datamining on all options, including straight-up live broadcast TV. At this point it’s about mitigation. I should give a pihole a try and see what that does to the TVs. If I could at least kill the need to manually opt out of live TV cookies every time a family member tries to watch something that’d be a major win.
