LG Smart TVs reportedly log user viewing habits regardless of privacy settings

[Youbetternot]

Well looks like LG is also in with the storing data. LG Smart TVs seem to be logging people's viewing habits regardless of privacy. So basically a guy found out that LG was still storing data even after he turned of the option of collecting data off. LG replies it is "Fair-Game because you agreed to our terms and conditions. This reminds me of the documentary I watched on Terms and agreement, a company can basically do anything if you agreed to their terms, therefore LG stated something in their terms of use which made them allow to collect data. They need to make shorter terms and condition things, I don't want to read freaking 10 pages of writing and because of those long terms and conditions things, that may make the company have power over me because I did not read.

 

LG's Smart TVs have reportedly been logging details of owner viewing habits even after users disable data collection in the settings menu. The alarming discovery was made by one user, who found that even after he turned off an option that enables "collection of watching info," the Smart TV still phoned home to a non-functional URL with specifics on channels he'd been watching and even filenames of movies stored on an attached USB drive. "I decided to do some traffic analysis to see what was being sent," he writes. "It turns out that viewing information appears to be being sent regardless of whether this option is set to on or off."

The TV apparently identifies itself with a unique device ID, and transmits the data in unencrypted form with every change of the channel. LG's customer service department told the user that the logging is fair game since he agreed to the company's terms and conditions. 

source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/19/5123900/lg-tvs-logging-viewing-habits-regardless-of-privacy-settings

Shows all the data ^

[Sarcasm]

Does this mean Incognito isn't enough anymore?

[Youbetternot]

Does this mean Incognito isn't enough anymore?

Lol What?

[EChondo]

Lol What?

Chrome's "private browser" mode for watching porn.

[Ngrungebb91]

Simple enough to solve these Smart TV problems... A. Have a WIRED connection so there will be no way it can connect to the internet.. or B. just don't connect the thing to the Wifi. There will be no way anyone can see that logged info anyway!

[ross06187]

the BBC has also pick up the story

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25018225

 

guess if you want to watch that "midget porn", without LG know your going to have to buy a new tv.

 

fromthe bbc

 

He had then attached an external hard drive to the TV's USB slot, expecting that the screen might simply report that he had been watching material from an external device, he said Instead he had found the name of each media file stored on the drive - including photos labelled with his children's names - had been sent back to LG.He had confirmed this had been the case by creating a mock video clip that he had named "midget porn", which had then showed up in unencrypted traffic sent back to LG, he said