{"id":824613,"date":"2026-08-24T21:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T21:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/824613\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T21:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T21:28:14","slug":"ads-and-tracking-infiltrated-tvs-now-theyre-coming-for-monitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/824613\/","title":{"rendered":"Ads and tracking infiltrated TVs. Now they&#8217;re coming for monitors."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2026\/05\/roku-oss-home-screen-now-features-a-large-permanent-ad\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ads<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2026\/03\/newly-purchased-vizio-tvs-now-require-walmart-accounts-to-use-smart-features\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">tracking<\/a> have turned TVs into <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2025\/06\/tv-brands-face-inherent-conflict-over-user-privacy-advertiser-data-demands\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">privacy nightmares<\/a>. Both are so widespread among smart TVs that I\u2019ve written <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2025\/12\/the-ars-technica-guide-to-dumb-tvs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a guide for avoiding them<\/a>. One recommendation in that guide is to use a computer monitor. But in recent years, monitors have become more capable of pushing ads and tracking users.<\/p>\n<p>Without more straightforward approaches from vendors, such as easily comprehensible privacy policies and avoiding inappropriate ads, monitors are dangerously encroaching into smart-TV-like territory.<\/p>\n<p>LG monitors\u2019 McAfee ads<\/p>\n<p>LG lost some trust after a recent report that some of its monitors <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2026\/07\/microsoft-responds-to-lg-monitors-installing-mcafee-ads-on-windows\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">installed McAfee pop-up ads onto connected computers<\/a>. Since <a href=\"https:\/\/techcommunity.microsoft.com\/discussions\/windows11\/why-the-lg-monitor-app-installed-without-my-notice\/4304003\/replies\/4538228\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">at least 2024<\/a>, some of these displays installed an app, LG Monitor App Installer, onto connected computers under the cover of driver updates installed through Windows Update.<\/p>\n<p>An LG spokesperson tells me that the point of LG Monitor App Installer is to \u201cmake related software available to help customers access monitor-specific features and functionality.\u201d In practice, it has pushed software ads onto connected PCs.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, the ads could potentially be relevant for LG monitor owners. The app has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q9uefFYe6bM\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reportedly<\/a> shown users occasional ads for LG software, like LG Switch and LG Dual Controller. But just because an app may be relevant doesn\u2019t mean a monitor should force ads for it onto a connected device.<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft has since forced LG to remove the McAfee ads. The clandestine manner in which LG monitors were installing ad-pushing software onto third-party devices, however, remains seriously concerning.<\/p>\n<p>LG Monitor App Installer\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.microsoft.com\/detail\/9pm9n6f47jb8?hl=en-US&amp;gl=US\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">page<\/a> on the Microsoft Store says the app can \u201cuse all system resources\u201d and \u201caccess your Internet connection.\u201d When outcry about the app peaked last month, LG\u2019s broader privacy policy drew concern that LG might use the app to collect data and share it with advertisers. However, the brief <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.storeedgefd.dsx.mp.microsoft.com\/wus2\/privacy-policy-storage\/10240950\/00014301795599251387\/1152921505701494827\/privacy_policy_70ba127c-77c3-4223-b52b-2d41b6fa06da.txt\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">privacy policy<\/a> that the app\u2019s Microsoft Store page currently links to claims that the app \u201cand the monitor applications distributed through it do not collect, use, store, or share personal information. If future versions introduce features that involve the processing of personal information, this notice will be updated accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ads and tracking have turned TVs into privacy nightmares. Both are so widespread among smart TVs that I\u2019ve&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[74],"class_list":["post-824613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}