This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
This is because as soon as a monitor is connected to a Windows computer, it automatically installs both the LG Monitor App Installer and McAfee Scam Detector without ever asking the user for permission.
Is this not a felony under U.S. law? Computer hacking has HUGE criminal liability.
Name something you do as a corporation to avoid any laws or accountability with the current administration
BRIBE THE DOJ
let's see if that answer's on the board..survey says...!
DING
It's actually windows doing it
Another win for Linux
The more I learn about windows the more I wish I would've ditched it a long time ago instead of last month...
It probably says somewhere in the ToS, which is still a fucking disgrace that those exists, without having to make clear and obvious bullet points you click "consent".
Even having to make consent multiple times should be mandatory for every shit they try to do.
Solution if users shouldnt hit consent multiple times? Dont do shady shit.
I can't remember the specifics right now, but in Gamers Nexus video from yesterday, according to LG ToS you must disclose something regarding spying and wiretapping laws to your family and anyone visiting your house
Apparently it's windows doing it. Not the monitor via the HDMI or something. I guess that's what you get for using windows.
Yep. Windows installs manufacturer “helper” apps automatically like drivers. Got a Logitech mouse? You probably have a Logitech app in there you never asked for too because you plugged it in.
Stop using windows.
I have a plan: we pass a law that any contract intended for the public (ToS, various other terms and conditions, privacy policies, etc) must be at the average reading level of the American public. We'll either incentivize better education or better contracts. Maybe both!
Bought a LG TV and a Monitor three years ago. Last time I will do that. Really happy about my decision not to let the TV have access to the internet.
Good luck finding a brand NOT doing it by the time you're ready for a new one.
A lot of bad ones out there, but some are worse than others. For example, I'm not going to consider a Samsung TV because of how many times they've done something sketchy
LG is also falling down the list with this incident
Yeah fist time I saw an ad on my smart monitor I reset it and never connected it to my wifi again
What's the point of a smart monitor? It's connected to a PC. The PC is smart.
Not only that but my old LG smart TV (47LM8600, I think manufactured in 2012) has literal suicide timers in its built in apps. Mine has never been connected to any network and yet it mysteriously informed me after approximately three years of ownership that all of its player apps such as Youtube, Hulu, Netflix, etc. would stop working because they were "no longer supported," all of them within the time frame of the same couple of weeks. It knew this somehow, apparently via magic, or quantum fluctuations, or psychic brain waves. Without internet connectivity.
Obviously I don't use any of those features so I didn't give a rat's ass and I still don't. But I still find that deeply suspicious.
The only technical explanation that’s not malice would be that some certificate store on the device had expiring certificates and would need an update to continue to function (or rather connect to remote servers).
Planned obsolescence is one of those things that just infuriates me so much about capitalism.
I've used an LG monitor for about 5 years, and never install the manufacturer's software unless it looks genuinely useful. When I saw the Gamers Nexus video I went to check my installed apps, and sure enough there was LG's monitor app, installed silently without my knowledge. I used Bulk Crap Uninstaller to get rid of it.
To prevent this kind of thing in future, run gpedit.msc and enable “Prevent automatic download of applications associated with device metadata” under Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Device Installation.
Or you could just change to an os that doesnt piss on its users constantly
I didn't watch the video, but maybe they said how this done.
If it installed silently, it must be getting pulled in via Windows update right? Where Microsoft just sees this a regular old driver for a device I would imagine?
I have an LG monitor, maybe about 5 years or older. But I don't have windows so I assume it knows nothing.
EDIT: Nevermind. I went and watched the section at the beginning, and yep that is exactly how it is done. Does windows not even vet what a vendor hands them as a driver? Perhaps they don't care, but this seems like an easily exploitable route.
I have an LG TV that has never been exposed to the internet and it's amazing.
Same! I jailbroke mine and can watch YouTube and Twitch ad-free, and it's got Jellyfin on the homebrew channel, so I can access my server off my TV :)
Omg you can jailbreak smart TVs now? HELL yeah
EDIT: I am especially interested in LG webOS because I was a Palm Prē enjoyer back in the day and I rooted the fuck out of that phone (still have it somewhere)
Check out rootmy.tv to jailbreak your LG smart TV. Depending on the model and firmware, there could be additional steps you need to take, but in my case, since I still had the stock firmware installed, it was just a single slide of a button on the TV's web browser.
This is it. Skip all the setup screens and just use it
My wife and I bought a TV on the internet. What brand? I have no idea but it's the type they have in waiting rooms and restaurants. Zero internet. Zero apps. You push the button and it turns on. It's the best fucking purchase we've made in the last five years.
This is 100% also Microsoft fault and they are to be held accountable for this. With many drivers it can happen that one manufacturer goes rogue, but Microsoft needs to have a zero tolerance policy for this: do it once and your signature is permanently revoked for all your drivers
LG clearly stands for "Literal Garbage". The DisplayPort and HDMI ports on the gaming monitor I bought a few years ago failed approximately 6 months in.
I wish we would stop using smart to describe surveillance technology. Smart sounds nicez but there's nothing smart about it...
LG is on my permanent vendor shitlist for related reasons.
All of this is true but I really hate the headline. Headlines for this SHOULD SAY "Microsoft's Windows update feature is distributing adware."
Both LG and Microsoft share responsibility. LG for doing it and Microsoft for allowing it.
And you think the other manufacturers are different?
Only solution is NO NETWORK. Use as a simple TV. I have 2 fairly new LGs and none are network connected. They work perfectly that way. I learnt the lesson with my 15y old Samsung SmartTV, one of the first to the market, and it wanted to use a Samsung account for almost everything, even to use the Youtube client. Nope.
These are computer monitors, not TVs. Plugging them into a Windows box triggers Windows to silently install their "driver," which silently installs a handful of other startup apps. It's an escalation of the smartTV-wifi path.
Does anyone make dumb TVs anymore? Seems like there's a sizable market for it. I haven't had a TV in 6 years and want one for local channels, but I really don't want a smart TV.
I just never gave my smart TV network info. It’s at the factory settings and can’t connect to anything. If there isn’t a console connected to it then it is useless. Just like the good ole days.
For the PC Monitor issue: To prevent this sort of behavior. Open Group Policy Editor Computer Configuration>Administrative Templates>System>Device Installation Prevent automatic downloads of applications associated with device metadata = Set to Enable.
To get rid of it once installed you have to remove it from the Windows Store since it's an app, not an installed program. For me, this was not possible as there was no way presented to uninstall it in the app store. I had to do it from terminal with this command, which could vary a bit depending on the exact app version:
Remove-AppxPackage LGElectronics.LGMonitorApp_1.2606.1601.0_x86__cfnzzhwkr8z5w
As much as I'd like a bigger TV with OLED, I'll be sticking with my old Toshiba dumb TV. It's good enough and doesn't even know the internet exists.
I have an LG smart tv that I've had for a few years now. It is easily the worst TV I've ever bought. The interface sucks, the remote sucks, it doesn't have the Dropout app, it is bright as the sun when the screen is on in the dark even with adaptive brightness on, slow to register button presses and load apps, etc. Even if it weren't a privacy nightmare, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
I’ve had a “smart” TV for about 4 years. It keeps asking to update the firmware.
No. Effin’. Way.
It’s just going to install more and more spyware, bloatware, and find a way to charge me for something I didn’t have to pay for before.
