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Your LG Smart TV Is Spying on You, Even If You Tell It to Stop

Online behavior, search keywords and even file names stored on USB drives are collected

Nov 20, 2013 08:53 GMT  ·  By
LG Smart TVs constantly collect information
   LG Smart TVs constantly collect information

An expert from the United Kingdom has made an interesting discovery regarding LG Smart TVs. Apparently, they collect information on what users are watching in order to determine what kind of advertisements to serve them as part of the LG Smart Ad service.

In a video that presents the advertisement service, LG tells potential customers that their ads will be displayed based on users’ favorite programs, search keywords, online behavior and other information.

The expert, who uses the online moniker DoctorBeet, has found a setting called “Collection of watching info.” This setting, which can be found only if you scroll down in the options menu, is turned on by default.

However, even if the feature is disabled, information from the LG Smart TV is still sent back to LG’s servers.

First, DoctorBeet has found that a unique device ID and the name of the channel users are watching are transmitted in an unencrypted form every time they change the channel.

However, that’s not the worst part of it. The names of the files stored on external USB drives are also transmitted. The URL the data is POSTed to doesn’t exist, but the expert warns that LG could implement the feature at any time, allowing them to collect detailed information on the media files stored on external devices.

“It would easily be possible to infer the presence of adult content or files that had been downloaded from file sharing sites. My wife was shocked to see our children's names being transmitted in the name of a Christmas video file that we had watched from USB,” DoctorBeet noted.

LG representatives claim that the retailer who sold the TV should have made customers aware of the Terms and Conditions associated with the use of the device.

In the meantime, since disabling the “Collection of watching info” feature doesn’t work, users can remove ads and prevent the data collection process by blocking the following domains in their router: ad.lgappstv.com, yumenetworks.com, smartclip.net, smartclip.com, llnwd.net, smartshare.lgtvsdp.com and ibis.lgappstv.com.