LG Denies Smart-TV Ambient Audio Surveillance and Data Harvesting Allegations

South Korean consumer-electronics company LG has strongly denied allegations that its smart televisions record ambient conversations, listen while on standby, and store recordings for later transmission.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Wednesday, the company clarified that voice data is exclusively recorded when a user presses and holds the voice button on the TV remote or uses the “Hi LG” wake word after activating the Far-Field voice recognition feature. LG stated that the TVs do not collect or store ambient conversations outside of these specific instances, and audio is immediately deleted if the wake word is not recognized.

This response follows a 135-minute investigative report published on Monday by Gamers Nexus, in collaboration with Level1Techs and independent security researchers. The investigation scrutinized LG televisions' data collection and security systems, alleging that the devices actively track users and gather local network data, including audio transcripts.

According to Gamers Nexus, researchers were able to capture audio through an LG television while in hibernation mode, noting that secondary microphones on devices like the remote might remain active. Yash Vekaria, a computer science researcher at the University of California, Davis, emphasized the importance of prompt patching from LG due to the long lifespan of televisions in homes, warning that vulnerabilities could expose critical conversations.

The researchers also claimed that unmatched wake-word interactions or unclear sounds could remain stored locally as plain text for potential later upload. Furthermore, the report alleged that the televisions scanned home networks for other devices, collecting internal IP addresses, nearby Wi-Fi networks, and location data.

LG countered that scanning for nearby devices is a standard smart-TV function supporting legitimate features like screen casting and smart-home integration. Anna Maria Mandalari, a lecturer at University College London, noted that such device discovery can help map a household network, though LG maintained that features like Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), voice recognition, and interest-based advertising require explicit user opt-in consent and can be disabled through device settings.

LG reiterated its commitment to transparency and rejected any deceptive practices regarding consumer data.