Is your LG Smart TV listening to you when you’re not watching? That’s the unsettling question at the center of a growing privacy controversy after Gamers Nexus accused LG smart TVs of collecting far more data than many consumers realize—including network information and audio-related data. LG has now pushed back strongly, calling the claims untrue and insisting that its TVs do not secretly record or transmit conversations. But with researchers presenting their own findings and LG offering a very different explanation, one uncomfortable question remains: what exactly is your “smart” TV doing in your home when you think it’s simply sitting there?
What's Inside
Following a recent investigation by the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus, conducted with Level1Techs and independent security researchers, questions have been raised about what information LG smart TVs collect, whether they can capture conversations, how they identify other devices on a home network, and how that information may be used.
The investigation alleged that certain LG TVs could collect extensive information about a user’s network and nearby Wi-Fi networks, identify other devices connected to the same network, and capture or store audio even when the TV appeared to be in standby or disconnected from the internet. The investigation also raised questions about LG’s Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology and its advertising business.
LG strongly disagrees with the characterization of these findings and says the claims about its TVs recording and transmitting ambient conversations are not true.
Here is what LG says about how these features actually work:
1. LG TVs do not continuously record your conversations.
LG says its TVs do not collect, record, or transmit conversations taking place in the room simply because the TV is switched on or in standby.
Voice data is processed when the user intentionally activates a voice function—for example, by pressing and holding the voice button on the remote. On TVs with Far-Field Voice Recognition, the user must first enable the feature before the TV listens for a wake phrase such as “Hi LG.”
If the wake word is not detected, LG says the audio used to check for that wake word is processed locally on the TV, immediately deleted, and is not transmitted to LG’s servers.
In other words, LG’s position is that listening for a wake word is not the same thing as recording and sending your conversations to LG.
2. Standby mode does not mean that the TV is recording everything around it.
LG acknowledges that when Far-Field Voice Recognition has been enabled, the TV can listen for the designated wake phrase while in standby.
However, LG says this does not mean that the TV is continuously recording conversations. According to the company, audio used for wake-word detection remains on the device and is deleted when no wake word is recognized.
This point is particularly important because the Gamers Nexus investigation reported seeing audio-related data being captured or stored under certain test conditions, including while the TV appeared to be off or disconnected from the internet. LG disputes the interpretation of those findings and says its voice system does not operate as an always-on conversation recorder.
3. LG TVs can scan the local network—but LG says this is a normal smart-TV function.
One finding that LG does acknowledge is that its TVs can identify other devices on the same network.
The Gamers Nexus investigation showed LG TVs identifying devices such as phones, smartwatches and other connected equipment, as well as gathering information about nearby Wi-Fi networks.
LG says this capability exists to support ordinary smart-TV functions such as:
- connecting to compatible devices;
- screen and content sharing;
- media streaming;
- device connectivity; and
- smart-home integration.
LG describes this as a standard capability found in smart TVs and other connected home devices, rather than evidence that the TV is secretly spying on its owner.
4. ACR is a separate feature from voice recognition.
Another major point of confusion involves Automatic Content Recognition (ACR).
ACR is designed to identify the content being watched so that smart-TV services can provide recommendations, services and personalized advertising.
LG says ACR is opt-in and that ACR data is not used for advertising when the user has not consented to the applicable optional agreement.
LG also distinguishes ACR from voice recognition. According to the company’s explanation, ACR is not the same system as the TV’s voice assistant and should not be interpreted as evidence that LG is recording household conversations for advertising.
5. LG says users remain in control of these features.
LG says features including Voice Recognition, ACR and Interest-Based Advertising require user consent and can be disabled through the TV’s settings.
The company maintains that its goal is to provide users with convenient smart-TV functionality while giving them control over which optional features they choose to use.
6. LG’s position on privacy and security
LG says protecting user privacy and maintaining the security of its products are priorities. The company says it works with security researchers and provides software updates intended to maintain a secure and reliable user experience.
The bottom line
The controversy is ultimately about two different interpretations of what the researchers observed.
Gamers Nexus and the researchers involved argue that the behavior they observed—including network scanning and audio-related activity—raises serious privacy and security concerns and goes beyond what an ordinary consumer would reasonably expect from a television.
LG, meanwhile, says those findings have been incorrectly characterized. The company maintains that its TVs do not secretly record ambient conversations, that wake-word processing happens locally unless a voice command is actually activated, that network-device discovery is a standard smart-TV capability, and that ACR and interest-based advertising are optional features requiring consent.
It is also important to note that LG’s statement does not independently settle the technical questions raised by the investigation. Several outlets reporting on the controversy have noted that the researchers’ findings and LG’s explanation have not yet been independently reconciled in full.
LG’s position is therefore clear: the company rejects the allegation that its TVs are secretly recording people’s conversations and sending that information to LG, while acknowledging that its smart TVs perform network-device discovery and that optional ACR and advertising technologies collect certain types of data when enabled.
