The bottom line: LG requires app developers to remove residential proxy functions or have their apps suspended.
LG Electronics USA will remove apps from its Smart TV app store that use the television as a continuously active residential proxy node. The move follows a study showing that over 42 percent of apps in the LG webOS Store contain such proxy SDKs.
Security company Spur documented in early July that more than 42 percent of available apps for LG televisions contain SDKs (Software Development Kits) from residential proxy providers. These components convert the TV device into a proxy node whose internet connection can be used by third parties. For Samsung televisions running the Tizen operating system, the proportion of such apps exceeded 25 percent. Residential proxy provider Bright Data was responsible for the majority of these SDKs.
LG Senior Vice President John Taylor confirmed to KrebsOnSecurity that the company is working with app developers to remove proxy options from their webOS apps. Apps whose developers fail to comply will be suspended. Taylor explained that a residential proxy network does not represent an intended use case for LG Smart TVs and that the company will strengthen its review processes for submitted apps.
App developers can monetize their applications by integrating SDKs from proxy providers, which pay for user devices to function as proxy nodes. Proxy providers rent these nodes to customers, often for content scraping activities. Spur found such SDKs in apps ranging from simple games like Pac-Man to screensavers and utility tools.
Proxy providers argue that they implement strict know-your-customer processes and deploy technical countermeasures to prevent proxy customers from controlling other devices on the proxy user’s local network. Spur, however, criticizes the large-scale embedding of residential proxy SDKs in devices that consumers do not regard as computers and cannot inspect. A one-time consent prompt in a TV app is no substitute for genuine transparency and continuous control – a particular risk arises when minors in the household consent to the proxy network.
Source: krebsonsecurity.com · Published 22 July 2026
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