this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2025

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LG is rolling out a new terms of use and privacy policy agreement. Looking pretty ugly over here with my "Smart TV". What can I do? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/techsupport@lemmy.world

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It seems to be related to some advertising push from a partner named Alfonso that is gathering information cross-platform anything that appears on your screen and pushing advertising to you during playback.

Hopefully not, but that's what it looks like from early reading.

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[–] noxypaws@pawb.social 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

My LG CX has been blocked from the network for years, starting from the instant the fucker popped up some notice about some shit that wasn't relevant to the TV displaying content.

Get that shit airgapped. Use a Steam Deck or an old PC tower or laptop to take over for the builtin stuff.

[–] itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 days ago

This. Treat it like a fancy monitor, and run whatever you need on an external device. You can use an old laptop or a newer raspberry pi

[–] KingOogaBooga@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

If you buy the TV and they don't watch your shit. then change TOS to watch your shit. They should refund a percentage if you return the TV. They changed the deal after the fact. Should be illegal.

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 days ago

I agree 100%.

And you speak like Rorschach in The Watchmen.

[–] HelixDab2@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago

...Stop using the "smart" services...? Yeah, definitely that.

[–] vk6flab@lemmy.radio 62 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My LG TV is not connected to the internet.

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Very smart. Do you live alone? My family is down with the sickness.

[–] vk6flab@lemmy.radio 35 points 1 week ago (11 children)

The TV is essentially used as a dumb monitor and has an Apple TV and Chromecast plugged into it.

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

I've got a Fire in the back of mine which I want everyone to use, but everyone just uses the LG interface except me.

Of course it screws up all the time, and when it does my first question is, "Hey did you try what you're doing on the Fire plugged into the back to see if it worked on that?"

Not like I love the fire either, but pick your poison, right? Apple, Amazon, Google, LG. Which large tech company would you like to milk your information?

[–] PleaseLetMeOut@lemm.ee 19 points 1 week ago

Sounds like it's time to block the TV from the network and just play dumb lol

[–] Aphelion@lemm.ee 9 points 1 week ago (5 children)

They'll never use the LG interface again if you just block its Mac adresses from your router.

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[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I have an old laptop running LibreELEC (literally) strapped to the back of my TV. With a PC connected remote it works great.

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 week ago

That's the way we do it, Dave! Making fire with sticks!

[–] lime@feddit.nu 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

does the fire stick have the ability to wake the tv up? in that case, just hide the TV remote.

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[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago

Time for a Pi-Hole or similar if you don’t already have one.

[–] Thorry84@feddit.nl 58 points 1 week ago (2 children)

This is one of my pet peeves. With these modern internet connected devices, manufacturers can just change the terms and conditions on you after you've made the purchase. OK, so would it be fair to say I can also change the terms and conditions, like for example this devalues my product and I want part of my money back?

It's such bullshit, especially with something like a phone or a TV, the software is a big part of why I select a certain device to purchase over another. I then want that devices to behave exactly like when I purchased it. Being connected to the internet means it requires regular updates for security. But these days that also means fucking with the features and the EULA, I hate that shit.

[–] GrumpyDuckling@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago

There's been quite a few class actions over this. A famous one is sony dropping the ability to install linux on the ps3.

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 week ago

Didn't some very clever person send a company his own change of terms and conditions? I think I remember something like that.

I wish I was an extremely smart lawyer type person and could jack them up like that myself.

[–] fubarx@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago

Pihole block list for TVs: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Perflyst/PiHoleBlocklist/master/SmartTV.txt

If your router supports blocking, you can just do it manually one by one and see when things break.

[–] kindenough@kbin.earth 21 points 1 week ago

My LG, and all other TV’s in my home are disconnected from the internet, because of ACR and ads. I use a seperate setup box. I did have a pihole blocking most of the smart tv telemetry, but I still did not trust the smart part of my tv.

[–] TheOSINTguy@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 week ago

Disconnecting it from the internet should do the trick.

[–] Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Read carefully, most of those do not need to be accepted or agreed to.

Always assume they are trying to trick you into thinking you have to agree to new legally optional features.

The good news is, even if you did accidentally agree to them, you can revoke it deep in the settings menu.

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Thank you, I already got that good advice from another awesome person like yourself! Not only was I able to avoid falling for their trap, but I unchecked some options I had apparently checked in the past!

The ole Lemmy reversearoo!!! Thanks as always,

🎵 I get by with a little help from my friends! 🎶

[–] Eeyore_Syndrome@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 week ago

Offline.

Mostly just use my Kodi/Shield setup+my 4kUHD player.

[–] Artemis@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It looks like you only have to agree to the first two options, if I'm reading correctly. Definitely second the pi-hole option if that isn't the case though...super easy to find telemetry domains based on what still works after blacklisting something (you can also find lists online).

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Oh my that really helped, thank you so much.

I really was freaking out there thinking I had to agree to all that crap.

A 100% explore the pi-hole thing. Plus why don't we all become multi-billionaires by selling TVs that just TV? And toasters that just toast? Smartphones that do things that you put on them, but don't do things that you don't?

How about we start a company that makes shit that does what it's supposed to do and doesn't do extra shit? (...And encourage an active and open plug-in community)

[–] dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (7 children)

There are two problems with scaling back to the old way of doing things: 1) enshitification and 2) endless seeking of upward growth and profit.

This case is especially egregious since it's not an extra thing that made this TV look like a good deal at Target/BestBuy/whatever. Instead, it's a secondary way for LG to directly monetize your use of the appliance (ads and data). So, they've all but given up trying to make a better or more cost-effective TV and are just figuring out how to charge you rent for it instead.

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[–] Tronn4@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Play porn 24/7

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So just carry on as normal?

[–] Tronn4@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Stay the course captain

[–] DuskyRo@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Disconnect from the internet. Buy Mi Box S 2nd gen & update it. Root it(optional). Debloat, install Kodi, SmartTube or Stremio. I recommend FLauncher for alternative launcher.

[–] mybuttnolie@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Tried this mi box a few years ago and I couldn't figure it out.. It was like crippled android. Couldn't find the apps that I wanted, keyboard didn't have my language available so I was missing characters that I need to access my smb share where I would have had the apks. Got mad and threw it out the window. Went looking for it the next day as I wanted to return it, I'm poor so I can't waste money like that, but my neighbor was outside just yelling something about his car's windshield, so decided to stay indoors. The next day it was gone, so I bought a used cheap mini pc, installed mint on it and been using it with a remote that has kb and trackpad, 5/5.

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yar, matey! I'll be looking into these suggestions!

[–] DuskyRo@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Any tv box will do but with this box you can retain root while still having Widevone L1 & Dolby Vision

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[–] GoatTnder@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I use a Roku and the Roku remote instead of the TV one. The Roku remote has power, volume, and mute buttons that control the TV. And that's really all you need. Is there a similar remote for Fire Stick?

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yep, it's very similar to the Roku, which I also have on other TVs and have used in the past on this one, but the fire also has the ability to sideload akp apps and can be a lot more versatile than the Roku.

I have retroarch loaded on my fire, and I can grab a Bluetooth controller and play some old Nintendo if I want. Took a little configuring, but I enjoy that kind of thing.

At first I will tell you the fire has a very ugly interface. Lots of banner advertising at the top and looks very messy and crowded. You just have to get used to the ugly. It's no Roku in that respect. Roku is much cleaner.

[–] thegr8goldfish@startrek.website 3 points 1 week ago

I like them because they're so cheap. Plus SmartTube is the only way I can bear to watch youtubes on the TV anymore.

[–] zarlin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This seems like the kind of data that can easily be added to a PiHole or Adguard Home blocklist, just need to find out which endpoint they are.

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