cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/71045682
An investigation by Gamers Nexus found LG smart TVs sweep local networks to map phones and nearby devices. Tests also showed the sets can capture microphone audio with the screen off — they then upload data once reconnected to the internet.



I keep my LG TV permanently disconnected from the internet, but there’s no good option for a smart TV interface. I use a Fire TV stick and use Pi Hole to sanitise it to some extent. My home server sits behind my TV cabinet and I eagerly watch the progress of Plasma Bigscreen. Kodi interface is ass. We badly need a good option for a privacy friendly Smart TV interface.
An NVIDIA shield works great, even though they’re old in tech terms, it works great. I installed FLauncher to replace the home screen and SmartTube fornad blocked YT. Runs Jellyfin, Kodi, official apps, or whatever else you want.
Can it be trusted to not connect to unsecured nearby WiFi network if such shows up?
No, but you can disable WiFi and use a network scanner to check for devices looking for WiFi. My (not LG) Samsung doesn’t, but that I’d not in any way a guarantee other Samsung devices won’t, just this particular one.