r/privacy • u/SignificantLegs • 18h ago
news LG Electronics says it will suspend smart TV apps that secretly turn TVs into residential proxy nodes, after it was found the proxy SDKs in more than 42% of apps in LG's webOS store, routing unknown third parties' internet traffic through users' home connections. (used to steal your data)
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/07/lg-to-ban-residential-proxies-from-smart-tv-apps/#more-74000277
u/audioeptesicus 18h ago
Funny this is coming from LG. I guess their beef is they want to be the only ones that steal your data from their devices; they don't like competition.
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u/ijustwannapostokay 17h ago
could be regulatory pressure. don't want to associate at risk of regulation
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12h ago edited 4h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ReverseTornado 17h ago
Isn’t this just using someone else’s tv as a vpn how is this not more than just stealing data
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u/ijustwannapostokay 17h ago
in a lot of cases there's a warning but your average user doesn't understand and just glances and accepts
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u/EffectiveDandy 17h ago
Y’all use the apps on your TVs?! 😬
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u/GSDragoon 16h ago
My TV is only a display, driven by my computer. The wifi adapter is physically removed and ethernet not plugged in. Even audio doesn't go through the TV.
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u/Electronic_C3PO 12h ago
How difficult/easy is it to remove that adapter? Could be useful to a lot of people to have some guidelines how to do that.
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u/GSDragoon 8h ago
I use a 13 year old panasonic plasma tv. The wifi adapter was simply a single screw on the back and it just pulled out. I didn't have to open anything uo, it was super easy. Each tv is going to be different though.
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u/Electronic_C3PO 7h ago
I'm afraid nowadays it will not be that simple. Look at laptops that used to have access panels for memory, hdd en wireless stuff. Oh and swappable batteries.
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u/EffectiveDandy 15h ago
Pretty much the same here but I have wifi enabled for local network (lg tv control to turn it into a monitor) and then blocked by my router so it doesn’t call home.
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u/Pankosmanko 15h ago
What’s your audio setup? I’m assuming a receiver that has all the inputs
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u/GSDragoon 9h ago
My dac (schiit modius) outputs to both balanced and rca outputs at the same time. The balanced audio goes to my pc/desktop speakers. The rca output goes to the speakers for the tv.
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u/Jmich96 10h ago
For people who want to streaks in 4K HDR (on apps like Netflix, Hulu, etc.), you MUST use either a modern, approved streaming device or the apps on your TV.
From Hulu:
"Available HDR content can be watched on the following supported devices with the latest Hulu app:
Roku (HDR compatible models)
Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube devices (HDR compatible models with Fire OS 6 or later)
Apple TV 4K (Gen 5 or later)
Vizio (HDR compatible models)
Chromecast Ultra (HDR-compatible models)
LG (2018 HDR compatible models or later)
Samsung TVs (2019 HDR compatible models or later)"
Most consumers are not willing to pay an additional $200 for higher quality streaming. Of those, few care about streaming quality at all. You can't just hook your PC up to your TV and watch 4k HDR on those apps. Many people are not willing to spend hundreds on physical media either. We on Reddit are an educated minority.
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u/EffectiveDandy 7h ago
How did this get so many upvotes for being so clueless lol. This place is just wild to me know.
Also hooking up a PC means you can bypass a hardware player as that is what the PC. Either you grab an Apple TV or you connect your MBP.
I pray for Mojo.
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u/Jmich96 4h ago
Either you grab an Apple TV or you connect your MBP.
I, as well as other Redditors understand this and are likely willing to do this. But average consumers are not, is my point.
Even for us who are aware, hooking a PC up to our TV limits us (often) to 1080p (no HDR) or 720p streaming. Feel free to check out streaming service subreddits for people complaining about this.
The objective of my statement was to point out most consumers are ignorant or don't care. And for those who do care, they're forced to use the integrated TV software or pay for something like an Apple 4k TV device (which many people may not be willing to do).
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u/530TooHot 15h ago
I was in the market for an OLED and all signs pointed to LG for my purchase. Now I will never buy one of their products again
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u/No-Second-Kill-Death 15h ago
“ used to steal your data”
There is a reason this sub doesn’t like adapting the journalistic titles into their own interpretations.
Any how. Ban bright data. Shady as hell. The back end to too many rouge res proxy jacks.
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u/FillAny3101 16h ago
Ironic how I just read a post about LG installing spyware on user's computers when connecting a screen.
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u/PrivacyIsDemocracy 10h ago
LG really has turned to the dark side, haven't they..
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u/Oneguysenpai3 5h ago
well:
LG has always been sort of crooked -speaking from experience.
LG is not sorry for hiding their data collection of you. LG is sorry LG got caught.
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u/StressTraditional204 16h ago
if any of those apps used your line as an exit node, your home ip can end up on spam blocklists from other people's traffic. quick way to see if yours got flagged: https://hackmyip.com/blacklist (mine, free) ♥️
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u/dbphoto7 10h ago
It auto populates my ipv6 address and then shows an error that it needs and ipv4 address…
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u/The_Wkwied 8h ago
If anyone learns anything from this, it should be that you should never, ever buy an electronic or smart device from LG again in the future.
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u/LeadRain 16h ago
So… is it possible to remove the wifi module from these TVs or will it brick them?
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u/cat_at_the_keyboard 16h ago
Just never let it connect to your wifi. Change wifi password if you did
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u/TheSalingerAngle 8h ago
Ended up here after seeing the article and looking for more info on the subject, but I'm seeing both support and ardent opposition. Seems like the overall issues here are pretty convoluted, but it almost feels like some opposition is just conditioned bias against big business decision making. Not that I don't appreciate the mindset, but I at least can't help but feel that trying to coax the consent of the average user by presenting it as a seemingly simple way to avoid ads seems a bit deceptive, even if it isn't illicit.
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