LG Smart TVs Caught Snooping Even When You Think They’re Off

LG drew the ire of customers when it was discovered that the software designed to accompany its monitors was installing itself and offering unwanted third-party offers on users’ systems. The company is facing a new, more furious round of backlash now that it has been revealed that its televisions are capturing more data than customers are likely comfortable with.

A detailed investigation spearheaded by Gamers Nexus, which it conducted with help from Level1Techs and independent security researchers, shows just how much user data the company’s OLED televisions are hoovering up. Some of the data being collected includes scanning the local network for other devices within the home and saving information about any other Wi-Fi networks that might happen to be close by.

That's frustrating enough, but even more eyebrow-raising is that these TVs are capturing and recording audio, even when the TV has been turned off and most owners would expect that it’s not active. Moreover, if a TV loses its internet connection it will continue to save these audio recordings and will upload them to LG’s Ad Solutions service once it’s able to re-establish access to the web.


To be clear, that means that LG TVs are recording you in your own home. Now, some users might not mind if LG is conducting network data collection, but they would probably feel differently if some random stranger was listening in on their private conversations.

Furthermore, during its investigation the team was able to leverage vulnerabilities in LG’s software to perform remote code execution on these TVs, which is exactly the kind of opening a malicious actor would love to take advantage of to compromise a potential victim. Thankfully, these vulnerabilities are being responsibly disclosed and should hopefully be fixed soon by LG.

It’s unfortunate that this kind of data harvesting is such a common aspect of smart TVs, but there are ways to keep yourself safe. It’s always a good idea to review the privacy options available to you and attempt to limit what you allow a company to collect. For now, ensure that you’re running the latest version of the TV’s software, and consider placing the TV on a separate network from the rest of your devices.

Check out our handy guide for securing your Wi-Fi network for a full rundown of tips, including setting up a guest network just for data hungry devices such as LG’s TVs.