LG Monitors, now install spyware. (& prevent automatic application install using device meta data)

[chazzy2501]

I'd heard of this and assumed it was a usb hub type of deal but it is not.  This is done without user interaction using Windows Drivers / Windows update.

 

 

 

I'm putting the setting in my WSUS GPO now!

 

 

[synaesthesia]

Holy crap. Likewise I've heard rumblings but never looked into it or thought much of it. That's more than underhand, that's "actively boycott this company" level of nastiness.

[Dos_Box]

Wow! I thought it was iffy when motherboards started to have their 'I'm just going to download my app in the background without telling you' option in the BIOS.
This is very bad, and I'm pretty sure that it's in breach of numerous data protection and privacy legislation.
Mind you, they did half the price of that monitor! 😄

[Arthur]

It gets worse! 🤯

 

 

[dmj]

Quote

i. CONSENT REQUIREMENT: You acknowledge and agree that it is your sole responsibility to obtain all necessary consents from any third parties whose voices may be captured by the Product and to notify household members and guests that their voices may be captured and processed, in compliance with applicable wiretapping, eavesdropping, and privacy laws. If anyone does not consent, you should disable the microphone or voice features in the settings. LGE disclaims any liability for your failure to obtain such consent or provide such notification.

https://www.lg.com/us/terms

 

i.e. use these in schools and the students can't sue LG, only the school.

[ITGuyNW]

People are going to get a shock when they find out all manufacturers do this 

[Davit2005]

Were living in an age where consumers are the product.

[Sephiroth]

Without wanting to sound like an extreme conspiracy theorist, this kind of thing is one of a great many reasons I don't use Windows at home. Application installation security has always been a sore point there, this is just a company being caught using one of Microsoft's flaws for their own gain.

 

It'll be interesting to see if this affects cyber security guidelines gooing forward.

[Rob_D]

I'm a little confused. Do you just plug in the monitor in and it installs stuff, or is this whole thing contingent on you installing the LG app?

[BKGarry]

The monitors, you plug in the monitor and windows downloads the LG app Automatically.

 

The TVs, now that's a bit more scary.

[synaesthesia]

Hasten to add this absolutely isn't normal or the case for the majority of other manufacturers. Whether that changes in the future will remain to be seen, but I suspect the backlack from this will be enough to make people take notice, LG included hopefully. 

Highly recommend specifically stating against LG devices when getting relevant quotes as a result of this even if it's not something you'd normally consider just to get the point across.

[JRA]

Still boycotting LG from about 20 years ago when they "denied there was an issue" with one of their screens that used to turn off the backlight/some sort of insane brightness drop when images on the screen went too dark. Yes I do hold grudges.

 

With any luck this buries them then.

[k-strider]

On 17/07/2026 at 09:49, chazzy2501 said:

I'd heard of this and assumed it was a usb hub type of deal but it is not.  This is done without user interaction using Windows Drivers / Windows update.

 

 

 

I'm putting the setting in my WSUS GPO now!

 

 

 

I did this in the holidays too.... i did have to update my central ADMX policies definitions folder first though to find that setting!

[Norphy]

On 08/09/2026 at 13:13, synaesthesia said:

Hasten to add this absolutely isn't normal or the case for the majority of other manufacturers.

Neither is it that ununsual. Connect an HP or Samsung printer to your computer, for example, or a Logitech device and you get nagged to install the app.

 

It's scummy behaviour, one way or the other. I don't want you to think I'm condoning it

Edited Monday at 20:46 by Norphy

[BKGarry]

I have a HP Wireless Laser Printer that is so chatty over the internet, it is the highest amount of traffic over smoothwall by hits, but you cannot configure and use the network/wireless on it without agreeing for it to communicate over the web and get constant firmware updates.