An investigation by the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus, with assistance from Level1Techs and security analysts, alleges that LG smart televisions are capable of recording conversations and uploading them to the internet, even when in standby mode or with the screen off. The findings suggest that data harvesting by LG TVs is used to inform targeted advertising for the company's LG Ad Solutions division.
According to the investigation, these data collection capabilities are driven by LG's automatic content recognition (ACR) system. This system allows the TV to capture audio and video snippets, compare them to a media library, and track content displayed on screen or played through speakers. While ACR is common in smart TVs for tracking viewing habits to improve advertising, Gamers Nexus found that the voice recognition trigger window remains open for 10 to 15 seconds after a command is recognized. During this period, the TV allegedly records all ambient conversation, transcribes it, and stores it locally.
The investigation further claims that LG TVs scan Wi-Fi networks to identify connected devices such as phones and smartwatches, building a household profile. LG reportedly tracks 386 million such 'secondary devices' in the U.S. alone. Clips of LG executives were shared in the investigation, with Julian Zilberbrand, head of data solutions at LG Ad Solutions, stating that "At LG, we know who is in the LG household. We know which devices are there, we know what you are exposed to on TV and we know how to extend that reach into mobile." Other executives claimed to "own" user televisions.
While LG users opt into these features, the investigators argue that the terms and conditions are overly complex, with a 50,000-word document potentially taking hours to read. Installing apps on the TV also presents users with multiple agreements, often pre-selected with 'select all' options checked by default, which investigators claim commits users to data gathering practices.
Steve Burke of Gamers Nexus stated, "The only reason to give a TV this kind of power is to visit horrors upon you, not to make a better product." He added, "Ultimately, we wouldn't recommend any LG smart products to literally anybody."
An LG spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the claims are untrue. The company stated that LG TVs process voice data only when the voice button on the remote is pressed and held or when a wake word is recognized after the Far-Field voice recognition feature has been activated. LG asserts that ambient conversations are not collected or recorded otherwise, and wake word detection is processed locally and immediately deleted if not recognized. The company also confirmed that scanning for and connecting to nearby devices is a standard smart TV function, and the ACR feature is opt-in for personalized content recommendations and advertisements. If a user does not consent, ACR data is not used for advertising.