The technology industry has spent years trying to convince viewers that smart televisions are a harmless way to access streaming services and games. But a new investigation paints a different picture. LG smart TVs, according to researchers, are almost constantly monitoring their surroundings. They scan wireless networks, identify phones and other hardware, listen for audio cues and identify the shows and movies you are watching. That data is sent to LG's advertising division, and some of the collection continues even when the screen is dark.
How the investigation was carried out
The probe was carried out by a YouTube channel that specializes in hardware failure analysis and investigative technology reporting, working with a second channel focused on hands-on engineering and independent security researchers. The group purchased retail LG OLED sets and connected them in a controlled network environment. By capturing network traffic, inspecting logs and running a number of tests, they managed to observe data flows that are normally invisible to consumers.
The test results showed that the television sets were continuously discovering other hardware present on the same local network. A packet capture tool recorded requests in which the TV listed devices such as smartphones, smartwatches and network-attached storage. In addition to creating what is effectively an inventory of the household, the TV logged the Wi-Fi network name and, in some cases, physical location data. The collected information was forwarded to servers used by a company tied to LG's advertising business.
Audio logging in standby
The most troubling finding relates to microphone access. Many modern LG TVs include far-field microphones designed for voice assistants. These microphones can be triggered by a hot word, but the investigation found the sets could capture short audio clips even after the screen was turned off. In several tests, audio content was recorded while the TV appeared to be in standby.
One of the clearest concerns is what happens when the television is disconnected from the internet. The researchers removed the internet connection and left the TV in standby. The set continued to generate audio logs and saved them to local storage. When the connection was restored, the queued data was uploaded to LG's servers without any visible user prompt.
Standby mode in modern smart TVs is not the equivalent of being powered off. Processors remain active, background services continue running and network chipsets keep polling for connections. An OLED television that seems to be off may still be performing listening or network-scanning tasks. The report authors emphasized that this behavior increases the difficulty of knowing whether a private conversation has been captured by a home appliance.
Automatic Content Recognition
The investigation also examined Automatic Content Recognition, or ACR. This technology samples small amounts of audio and video content playing on the television and matches them against a database. It lets the TV know which program is showing, whether the content comes from built-in applications, an external streamer, a game console or a set-top box connected through HDMI.
ACR is valuable for advertisers because it provides accurate audience measurement. It can be used to serve targeted ads, generate recommendation profiles and measure the effectiveness of a marketing campaign. The investigation explained that LG TVs collect identifying details that reference what is being displayed on the HDMI input at a particular moment. The data can then be used by LG's advertising service to build a profile of the household's viewing habits.
Although ACR has been enabled by default on many LG TVs for years, some of its functions can be turned off by digging through the settings. The investigation noted, however, that disabling one setting might not end all data collection. Every manufacturer handles opt-out options in a different way, and some data is sent to servers in different jurisdictions.
An industry-wide issue
LG is not the only manufacturer that uses ACR. Newer smart TVs from nearly every major brand use similar recognition technologies. Separate display-industry testing showed that ACR-based data flows have become a standard part of the modern television ecosystem, spanning brands that run on proprietary operating systems as well as those built on licensed platforms.
Because ACR is so widely deployed, investigators urged people to avoid connecting a smart TV to the internet if privacy is a priority. That is not a practical option for everyone; popular streaming services, voice assistants and app stores all require a connection. For viewers who want to use streaming services without giving the TV access to room audio, the report suggests connecting an external streaming device to the television and keeping the smart TV itself offline. An external player may have its own data policies, but it cannot use the TV's built-in microphone and ACR hardware.
LG's previous privacy problems
This is not the first time LG has faced criticism over hidden data collection. A few months earlier, the same hardware-focused channel identified a separate problem involving LG computer monitors. The monitors were automatically installing an application that transmitted device-related information and displayed pop-up advertisements for other LG software and even a third-party antivirus product. The public pressure created by that video prompted Microsoft, whose operating system was running on the affected machines, to step in. LG eventually disabled the pop-up ads.
The monitor incident was different because it involved software bundled into a peripheral rather than background network data collection. But combined with the TV investigation, it suggests a repeating pattern in which consumers must deal with advertising-related components preinstalled on devices they own.
What does this mean for TVs in the home?
Smart televisions have become the center of living room entertainment, but new findings highlight how much invisible processing they perform. Network scanning can reveal how many people live in the house, what kind of phones they use and whether they own wearable devices. Microphone logging can capture speech that was meant to be private. Adding location information and nearby Wi-Fi network names to that mix creates a detailed digital profile that LG's advertising business can use for ad targeting and audience analytics.
Viewers who want to limit exposure should start with the TV's privacy menu. Many LG TVs allow users to disable voice data collection, turn off personalization recommendations and switch off interactive advertising features. Reducing the amount of data shared is not necessarily a permanent solution, because operating-system updates can sometimes change settings or introduce new service agreements, but it is a sensible first step.
For a more complete solution, consumers can physically block the TV's microphone. Some models include a switch on the side or bottom of the set, and certain external microphone accessories can be unplugged entirely. Even without a physical switch, privacy-conscious users can simply avoid setting up the voice assistant and leave the TV unpaired from home networks whenever it is not in use.
The biggest lesson from the research is that the word standby no longer means the television is off. A smart TV left connected to the internet and placed in standby can still be part of a hidden data collection system. In the same way that phones have become always-on tracking devices, televisions are now part of the connected ecosystem that links what people watch to the ads they see across the web. The choice to put a TV online, or to keep it offline and use another device for streaming, is one more way households can decide how much of their private life is exposed to data collectors.
Source: The Verge News