LG Denies Smart TVs Secretly Record Conversations After Researchers Allege Standby Spying

SEOUL — LG Electronics said claims that its smart televisions record living-room conversations, even when the screen is dark, are "not true," after a two-hour investigation alleged the sets can capture audio and map home networks.

The company issued the denial to Tom's Hardware, CNET and Al Jazeera after Gamers Nexus, working with Level1Techs and independent researchers, published a 135-minute report on Monday. The video said testers pulled conversation transcripts from an LG set in standby, logged other devices on the same Wi-Fi network and sent data toward LG Ad Solutions. The report put the installed base at about 216 million smart TVs.

"The claims made in the recently published video are not true," LG said. "LG TVs process voice data only when the voice button on the remote control is pressed and held, or when a wake word such as 'Hi LG' is recognized after the user has activated the Far-Field voice recognition feature. Other than these instances, the TVs do not collect or record ambient conversations."

If the wake word is not recognized, the company said, "no voice data is transmitted to the server; the audio processing for wake word detection is performed locally on the device and is immediately deleted." In a longer privacy note it added that sets "do not collect, record or transmit ambient conversations in your home, unless voice functionality has been intentionally activated by the user." In standby, it said, the television "only monitors for the wake word if you have previously enabled the Far-Field feature."

LG did not deny that its televisions scan the local network. "To provide smart TV functionalities, LG TVs feature the ability to scan for and connect to nearby devices on the same network," the statement said. It called that "a standard function commonly provided by smart TVs and smart home devices." On Automatic Content Recognition, which fingerprints what is playing on HDMI and other inputs for ads and recommendations, LG said the feature "is offered on an opt-in basis" and that without consent "ACR data is not used for advertising purposes."

What the company did not address, several outlets noted, was the researchers' claim that voice commands can sit in plaintext on servers and that a webOS flaw could let an attacker use the microphone even after a user flips a hardware mute. Gamers Nexus said a man-in-the-middle test on an OLED G5 produced live audio from a dark screen and again after the set was pulled off the internet. It also said the remote's microphone can stay live when a switch on the set is off.

Smart-TV listening is not new. Wake-word systems from Amazon, Google and Apple keep a short audio buffer on the device. Content recognition is industry practice. What made this report travel is the combination of standby capture, network inventory and an advertising subsidiary that already faced a U.S. state case.

In May, LG Electronics USA settled a Texas lawsuit over ACR. Attorney General Ken Paxton said the company would obtain consent before collecting viewing data and add a pop-up that explains the practice and lets owners opt out. "LG has now taken important steps to ensure that users' viewing data will not be collected without their informed consent," Paxton said then. LG said it had worked with the state to strengthen an existing consent practice. Texas had sued LG and other brands in late 2025 over tracking without proper notice.

Owners who do not want a far-field mic can leave that setting off and avoid holding the remote's voice key. That does not stop ACR if it was accepted at setup, and it does not stop the set from seeing a phone or speaker on the same router. Unplugging the Ethernet or cutting Wi-Fi stops cloud uploads. It does not, according to the researchers, silence a local microphone path.

LG is one of the largest TV brands in the United States and Europe. webOS sits on OLEDs that sell for more than $2,000 and on cheaper LCD sets. Advertising through LG Ad Solutions is part of how those boxes are priced. The company's position is that voice is a button or a phrase the owner turned on, that network discovery is how Cast and AirPlay work, and that ads require a check box.

The investigators' position is that a dark screen is not an off switch. LG's statement draws a bright line at the wake word. It leaves the network scan on the table and leaves the plaintext and exploit claims unanswered. Until a regulator or a court tests those packets, owners have the company's word, a Texas consent screen and a remote they can put in a drawer.