An investigation has begun on LG Smart TV following allegations that the hardware gathers extensive information about users and their surroundings for the benefit of its advertising business.
The reports state particularly OLED models are engaging in surveillance practices, raising concerns about smart TVs that researchers claim continue capturing audio after voice recognition is activated, including while the display is in standby.
The concern was raised by Gamers Nexus YouTube channel, claiming that LG’s monitors were secretly installing adware using an automatic Windows process. They also found plaintext transcripts generated from audio captured by the TV, along with other information after inspecting the TV’s network traffic and internal data.
The Gamers Nexus crew said it observed the TV collecting IP addresses, location data and the names, signal strengths and channel numbers of nearby Wi-Fi networks. It also enumerated devices including smartphones, watches, routers, thermostats, air purifiers, server baseboard management controllers and PCs.
On the side, LG has defended itself saying they do not “collect, record or store ambient conversations,” and that voice recognition is an optional feature that processes voice data only when activated by the user.
It also said its hardware incorporates technology from its advertising business, LG Ads Solutions and it automatic content recognition (ACR) has limited to its smart TVs, which would be deployed in sets and result in availability through its advertising business.