Ads and tracking infiltrated TVs. Now they're coming for monitors. - Ars Technica

Overview

Ads and tracking infiltrated TVs. Now they’re coming for monitors.var abtest_2166486 = new ABTest(2166486, 'click');

Each month, we’ll examine the biggest controversial changes to tech products: what changed, why it’s happening, how users are affected, and how companies can do better.

Details

Ads and tracking have turned TVs into privacy nightmares. Both are so widespread among smart TVs that I’ve written a guide for avoiding them. 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.

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.

LG lost some trust after a recent report that some of its monitors installed Mc Afee pop-up ads onto connected computers. Since at least 2024, some of these displays installed an app, LG Monitor App Installer, onto connected computers under the cover of driver updates installed through Windows Update.

An LG spokesperson tells me that the point of LG Monitor App Installer is to “make related software available to help customers access monitor-specific features and functionality.” In practice, it has pushed software ads onto connected PCs.

Sure, the ads could potentially be relevant for LG monitor owners. The app has reportedly shown users occasional ads for LG software, like LG Switch and LG Dual Controller. But just because an app may be relevant doesn’t mean a monitor should force ads for it onto a connected device.

Microsoft has since forced LG to remove the Mc Afee ads. The clandestine manner in which LG monitors were installing ad-pushing software onto third-party devices, however, remains seriously concerning.

LG’s spokesperson reiterates that the app “does not collect personal information from customers’ devices” and that “its function is to identify compatible monitor models and present applications supported by those models.”

But as a skeptic, I’m still concerned that LG could eventually leverage already-purchased monitors for more ads, as it already has proven it can, and to track user activity.

Beyond the LG debacle, there’s a broader concern that monitors are being turned into ad-pushing trackers: smart monitors.

Smart monitors connect to the Internet and run their own operating system (OS) and apps. They can be useful for performing tasks, like video conferencing, watching a show from a streaming service, or managing your smart home without attaching a computer.

LG’s and Samsung’s smart monitors use the same ad-serving OSes that their respective smart TVs do, meaning they’re poised to use automatic content recognition (ACR). Users of LG and Samsung smart monitors, including reviews site RTINGs, have shown the displays being able to track user activity. I asked LG and Samsung if their smart monitors use ACR and will update this article if I get any responses.

When using a smart monitor, you not only have to worry about what the monitor could be tracking, but also what the OS operator (such as Google for Android-powered smart monitors) and third-party app providers (such as Netflix) can track. That’s a lot of lengthy policy text to parse in order to understand what exactly your smart monitor is tracking and how that data may be used.

For the record, the privacy policies for monitors by companies LG, Samsung, and Acer (Acer also makes smart monitors) all state that the companies may share data collected from its devices with advertisers.

There are reasons for smart monitors to exist beyond their potential for ads and tracking: There’s genuine demand for them, including among people with limited spaces seeking simplified, sharable computing solutions.

But smart TVs also had a logical, consumer-friendly purpose before the industry started pumping them with ads.

Making sure monitors don’t become like smart TVs

Ads and OSes could one day help drive down the price of monitors, as they did TVs. But I’d rather see monitor manufacturers prioritize finding ways to bring new display technology innovations, improved audio, or other capabilities.

It should go without saying, but vendors also shouldn’t take advantage of driver updates to force unwanted apps or ads onto any device.

And with smart monitors being a newer product, the companies behind them should be more forthcoming about tracking. Thankfully, most smart monitors allow users to disable tracking. But it would be better if users were prompted with these settings and choices during setup instead of having to dig through menus. Apple TV is a great example of hardware that makes it easy to understand privacy policies and to disable tracking settings right when you plug it in. If LG could make monitors install an unwanted app upon setup, surely its monitors can be set to provide important privacy information during setup, too.

Regular monitors should also remain widely available (just like they are now). It would be outrageous if dumb monitors were one day as rare as dumb TVs.

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Key Takeaways

Ads and tracking infiltrated TVs
Each month, we’ll examine the biggest controversial changes to tech products: what changed, why it’s happening, how users are affected, and how companies can do better
Ads and tracking have turned TVs into privacy nightmares
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
LG lost some trust after a recent report that some of its monitors installed Mc Afee pop-up ads onto connected computers