Analysis of LG's smart TVs shows its ad software tracks nearby devices, security flaws can allow hackers to eavesdrop via the built-in microphone, and more

SUPPORT THE DATA DRAGNET SERIES: https://store.gamersnexus.net/data- dragnetThe LG Smart TVs we've tested have first-party ACR (automatic content recognition)...

Gamers Nexus on YouTube 2026-09-08

Context & Ripple Effects

LG’s television data practices were already under scrutiny in 2013, when reporting found USB filenames and viewing information being sent to LG servers, followed days later by LG’s pledge to halt the spying behavior. The new analysis tests whether the privacy boundary has narrowed as televisions have become more software- and advertising-driven.

The issue also fits a broader connected-TV pattern: 2015 coverage raised concerns about unencrypted voice data on Samsung sets, and 2019 researchers reported data sharing across smart TVs and streaming devices from multiple vendors. The combination of ACR, local-device tracking, and microphone-related flaws makes privacy design and product security inseparable for LG Smart TVs.

First-order effects

Owners of the tested LG Smart TVs face both first-party ACR and nearby-device tracking by the television’s ad software, expanding the data the set can associate with household activity.
The reported microphone vulnerabilities create a separate security exposure: an attacker exploiting the flaws could use the built-in microphone to eavesdrop.

Second-order effects

LG must address two linked problems at once—data-collection controls and microphone security—rather than treating advertising software and device security as separate product layers.
Other smart-TV and streaming-device vendors face stronger scrutiny of how their telemetry, voice features, and network-facing software handle household data, following the earlier cross-platform smart-TV data-sharing findings.

Third-order effects

If similar findings persist across connected-TV platforms, consumer privacy competition will increasingly turn on enforceable controls over sensors, ACR, and local-network discovery—not only picture quality and streaming catalogs.
The pattern points toward smart-TV governance in which advertising-data practices are evaluated alongside vulnerability management, because either layer can expose activity inside the home.

The trend: Connected TVs are becoming household data platforms whose advertising telemetry and embedded-device security must be assessed as one privacy risk surface.

Discussion

@granger4nh Rep. Michael Granger on x
There are Flock Cameras in your living room, and they try to phone home even when used WITHOUT intentionally joining a network. @LG and other “Smart” TVs are as bad as Flock or Axon. Don't buy this garbage!
@intcyberdigest @intcyberdigest on x
‼️ BREAKING: Your LG TV is eavesdropping on you. It transcribes what you say, copies what is on your screen, and scans every device on your network, and researchers say the collection keeps running after you disconnect it, uploading the moment it reconnects. LG's ad-tech arm says…
@gamersnexus @gamersnexus on x
216 million spy TVs, ACR, vulnerabilities, and the LG Smart TV problem: https://www.youtube.com/...
@pirat_nation @pirat_nation on x
LG smart TVs are raising privacy concerns after an investigation by Gamers Nexus, led by Steve Burke, found some worrying behavior in LG's OLED TVs. Researchers found that the TVs could scan local networks for nearby devices and Wi-Fi networks, while LG's content-recognition syst…
@roncoleman Ron Coleman on x
One more reason not to have a TV
@aaronblackshear Aaron Blackshear on bluesky
If you have an LG TV it is scanning your entire network, recording you, and sending that info back to LG, even if you don't have it connected to the network. Some of the more egregious spying I've ever seen in tech. — www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IFV...
@papapishu @papapishu on bluesky
Oh good the LG TV spyware video dropped. youtu.be/6IFVTcM28KA
@kanoki.net @kanoki.net on bluesky
Proof that, yes, they ARE listening to you. 24/7. You're not crazy. — Here's a deep-dive into exactly how LG Smart TVs listen to, and record, everything you say in the room, even if you say no, and they are selling that info.
@lukathemouse.gay @lukathemouse.gay on bluesky
I knew smart TVs where trash but this is like next level spying: — www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IFV... I know it's 2 hours long but please watch and support this kind of content!! This video highlighting a lot of privacy issues with LG TV's but privacy issues are not only specifi…
@moira@mastodon.murkworks.net @moira@mastodon.murkworks.net on mastodon
This is the big LG television surveillance documentary story GN have been working on for a couple of months, and that they previewed a few days ago. — The complete pervasiveness of spying upon not just you and what you watch but _every person and every device around every set_ …
r/LGOLED r on reddit
Get rid of your LG TV as soon as possible and get into legal action against LG
r/videos r on reddit
Removed from /r/news. The Gamer Nexus breaking story about LG TVs spying on their owners (even when off) - 216,000,000 Spy TVs | The LG Smart TV Problem
r/devsarg r on reddit
Hay que rootear todo LG
r/Freethought r on reddit
LG TVs discovered to be secretly recording conversations, even when the tv is off, even when it's uplugged from the network …
r/Hasan_Piker r on reddit
Been obvious for awhile, but good to have proof our devices are listening to and recording *everything* we say and logging the other tech we use.
r/InternetBrasil r on reddit
Simplesmente LG passando a mão na sua rede
@michaelmclean.me Michael McLean on bluesky
Never connect your tv to the internet. I only use my Apple TV for content. [embedded post]
@t0ussaint @t0ussaint on bluesky
LG smart TVs sweep local networks to map phones and nearby devices. Tests also showed the sets can capture microphone audio with the screen off — they then upload data once reconnected to the internet. tv's also gathered names & signal strengths of neighboring Wi-Fi networks alo…
@inrange.tv @inrange.tv on bluesky
I don't know why anyone would actually connect a “smart TV” to their network, but they do...and here we are, they actually are watching you (as predicted in 1984): — www.notebookcheck.net/LG-smart- TVs...
@thorjansen @thorjansen on bluesky
Wireshark your localnet today. You might be surprised just how noisy your network really is. — www.notebookcheck.net/LG-smart- TVs...
r/IndiaTech r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/france r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices [Les TV LG vous enregistrent avec écran éteint et scannent tous vos appareils]
r/homeassistant r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/LinusTechTips r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/LouisRossmann r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/conspiracy r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/living_in_korea_now r on reddit
What do Koreans think of this?
r/television r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/technews r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/LGOLED r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/StallmanWasRight r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/pwnhub r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/italy r on reddit
Le TV LG registrano l'audio a schermo spento e a spiare i dispositivi di rete locali
@bastardsheep.com @bastardsheep.com on bluesky
Just using an LG TV as a dumb screen only connecting it to the internet DOES NOT WORK. — New TV's constantly scan wifi & log audio when offline, then upload if an open wifi found or when connected. — They're in-home spyware. Do not buy LG.
r/chileIT r on reddit
216.000.000 de televisores espía | El problema de los Smart TV de LG / Gamers Nexus
r/LGOLED r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
r/indotech r on reddit
LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
@sidiansonne @sidiansonne on bluesky
Hey, so LG Smart TVs are recording audio even when they are off and uploading it to advertising the moment they are connected to the internet. — If you want all the info, this is the long version.
@broken.com @broken.com on bluesky
LG being creepier than ever, spying on everything their devices hear #privacy — www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IFV...
r/Slovenia r on reddit
216,000,000 Spy TVs | The LG Smart TV Problem
@hern Alex Hern on bluesky
It's finally happened: the improved quality of machine transcription and the greater ability to extract value from unlabelled data means “your tech is eavesdropping on you for marketing purposes” has crossed from “false conspiracy theory” to “true and concerning” www.theverge.com…

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