Security → So you want to watch your new TV...

»consumerist.com/2014/05/ ··· mart-tv/

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when he told the TV that he didn’t agree with the privacy policy, LG had some news for him. He didn’t want to share information with them? Fine: they wouldn’t share any information with him. By “information,” we mean “any of the features that are the entire point of having a smart TV.”

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LG is preventing us from using our own TV's in our own home unless we agree to let them monitor our behavior. Freakin madness!

I used to love tech. Now I seek ways to avoid it.

Actually, we can use the TVs... we just can't use the "feature" software that's a major part of why users buy them unless we sign on. Kind of like computers... we can use them, but it's the software EULAs that often bite us. They just haven't (yet) figured out how to license the hardware people cash-and-carry out of a store.

Unfortunately the hardware and the software end up being the same for all intents and purposes. Buy an LG, get monitored if you want to use it. Buy a Chevy, expect the same through OnStar. I forget the companies involved (maybe AT&T), but some big names just teamed up to put cell tech in a bunch of other vehicles, meaning you buy one of them you're getting tracked whether you want it or not.

Privacy is getting flushed fast.

Thats why you always inquire as to where the cellular radio is(rear inside quarter panel or under driver seat). Yank that puppy out, or at least have an accident with the power cable.
Just have to make sure the service department does not fix it.

Far too many people don't know what their products do. With OnStar, people thought it was a safety device, then they found out all the data it collected. With a computer like device, plug it into your LAN and it goes searching to be able to tell the company what the customer has in electronics.

The trade-off with OnStar, is that if you are ever in an accident, it is invaluable, especially if you are in a unfamiliar town at night and have no idea what the street name is and/or you need the police/ambulance and are hurt or just too upset to process everything properly.

I've had to use it for that purpose and wouldn't be without it now. They can count how many times I break wind in the car for all I care.

It would be nice if there didn't need to be a trade off. A trade off we are forced into, no less.

Time for someone to start building open source "OS" replacements for these devices.

Same as the computer. Bring it home, format it, and put the OS you want on it.

All the more reason to buy a dumb tv.

Why pay extra for "features" (including loss of privacy) you don't want?

It's called "choice." If enough people did that, companies like LG would get the message and back off. Whining doesn't carry nearly the weight of sales figures in the boardroom.

The really piss poor thing in this user's case is that this wasn't a NEW television, it was almost two years old when LG "updated" their privacy policy. The set was likely un-returnable by then, so by not accepting the new, revised privacy policy the guy wound up with most of the goodies disabled.

Who cares? What does anyone see on TV that isn't pre-approved by someone, somewhere? Plus all your other data mining apps, from phone to credit card to license plate reader, do you really think 'they' dont know everything about you anyways?

Plus, saying 'no', probably puts you on some list, somewhere and gets you more unwanted attention anyways.

So, the question remains, which one watches more of the other & ultimately who is truly the viewer?

Reminds me of this cup that we had as kids, which made us wonder how far back things could go:

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LG is preventing us from using our own TV's in our own home unless we agree to let them monitor our behavior. Freakin madness!

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Hey Its good you dont want them doing this!!!! -- ALOT OF PEOPLE DONT CARE and its sad!!!!!!!

Is there anyway to block it?? (Accept the agreement AND THEN BLOCK IT)

I have a Smart Samsung HD TV that is 2.5 years old. I didn't buy it for the web browser or the Smart Hub "goodies". I bought it because of the picture quality and the fact that it got very high ratings from most respected reviewers as well as owners of earlier years, and that year's, Samsung TV's in that series. So, I'm not sure what "goodies" he is missing. Those apps are mostly junk (and most are NOT free) and the web browser is a joke. It works much better to just attach your TV to your network and use it as a big monitor if you want to surf on it.

There was a story, of a person who had been missing. Their car had gone off the road, and no one knew where the car, or that person was. I forgot how they were finally found, but they were found alive, amazingly.
Now for something like this, I can see Onstar being a good thing to have. As that never would have happened if:
1]The Onstar wasn't damaged in the crash.
2]Onstar was online. Supposedly Onstar has coverage gaps just like cell phones do.

»www.usatoday.com/story/n ··· 8752837/

I also read of another case where a person had been missing for a couple of years. A family member didn't give up that search. He found the car down an embankment, with the deceased family member in the car. This was an area that had been over looked by previous search parties. They never thought to look beyond a certain point.

I'm typically against smart phones and Onstar, because they do track your location and activity. But in cases where I could be broken down on a highway, unconscious, it might be a fair trade off, if it rescues me.