After espionage allegations: YouTuber rips Wi-Fi and microphones out of his new LG OLED
A YouTuber disassembles his newly purchased LG OLED G6 and removes the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and microphones. In doing so, he is responding to reports of data collection and potential espionage attacks on LG televisions.
Televisions analyze what we watch. They scan our home network for other devices. And if they are compromised accordingly, their microphones can even be misused for surveillance. The US tech outlet Gamers Nexus recently investigated all of this with LG TVs – and apparently struck a nerve.
YouTuber tfm55x is certainly taking radical measures. In his video «This LG G6 OLED Glass Belongs to Me!», he takes apart his newly purchased LG OLED G6, disconnects the combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module from the motherboard, and removes the two tiny microphones from the bottom bezel.
Behind this is a phrase that caused a stir during the research: «We own the glass». It comes from an executive at LG Ad Solutions, the company's advertising division. It refers to LG's access to the screen as an advertising space and data source. Nevertheless, tfm55x takes the saying literally. His response to LG: «Well, you don't own the glass on this one.»
The remote control is also obsolete, as it has its own microphone. tfm55x simply leaves the batteries out. In the future, the expensive OLED TV will only serve as a "dumb monitor," i.e., a screen without smart functions. It will be controlled via Home Assistant.
However, the YouTuber advises against copying him. To detach the tiny microphones from the circuit board, he uses, among other things, a hot air soldering station. Anyone who doesn't know what they are doing should keep their hands off it.
Radical solution for a real problem
However, the evidence is not quite as dramatic as the modification suggests. While Gamers Nexus showed that a previously compromised LG television can be misused as a recording device – even with a black screen – it was not proven that LG itself secretly records living room conversations and sends them to its servers for advertising purposes.
Other privacy concerns, however, are real. LG televisions can use Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) to detect what is currently playing, even via external HDMI devices such as game consoles or set-top boxes. They also scan the local network for other devices. LG confirms both, but emphasizes regarding the network scan that it serves to identify compatible devices and that the information collected is not used for advertising profiles.
What is clear, however, is that there is an advertising business behind ACR. LG operates its own advertising platform, LG Ad Solutions, which can use information about viewing habits for targeted advertising. According to LG, when ACR is activated, Wi-Fi data is also used to determine the approximate location of the television.
Anyone who doesn't want this doesn't have to reach for the soldering iron right away. ACR can be deactivated in the settings; in tests by RTINGS, the corresponding data traffic disappeared on several televisions afterward.
I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.
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