September 14, 2026 09:00 AM PST
(PenniesToSave.com) – On September 8, the technology channel Gamers Nexus published a 135 minute investigation into LG smart televisions, carried out with Level1Techs and independent security researchers using packet captures and firmware analysis [4]. The team reported that the sets identified devices across a home network, collected details about nearby wireless networks, and logged information about hardware that was never connected to the television at all [3]. One of the models examined in the testing, an LG OLED65G3PUA, carries a starting price around $2,500 [3]. This is not a bargain bin television with corners cut to hit a price point. It is premium hardware from a company that had built a reputation for fewer ads and less tracking than budget brands [3]. LG has disputed the most alarming claims, and its full position appears later in this article [5]. For a household that just spent real money on a flagship set, and that may already be reviewing where the family money goes through building a household budget, the practical questions are simpler than the technical argument. What is the television collecting, who profits from it, and what can be turned off tonight?
Quick Links
- What Did the Investigation Actually Find?
- How Can a Television Track What You Watch When It Is Not Online?
- What Does LG Say Is Actually Happening?
- Who Is Paying for the Television in Your Living Room?
- Which Settings Should You Check Tonight?
- Will Anyone Hold Smart TV Makers to Account?
What Did the Investigation Actually Find?
The headline finding involved the home network. Gamers Nexus editor in chief Steve Burke described a flagship LG set surveying the entire local network and returning dozens of unrelated devices, including smartwatches and phones belonging to staff who had no idea the testing was under way [3].
The [G5] crawled our entire network and found dozens of unrelated devices
Steve Burke, Gamers Nexus [3]
According to the researchers, firmware and traffic analysis showed the televisions capable of identifying an IP address, a geographic location, the name and signal strength of every wireless network in the vicinity, the channel numbers of neighboring networks, other devices on the network even when they were not connected to the television in any way, and the internal IP addresses of those devices [3]. The hardware picked up in those sweeps reportedly included phones, PCs, printers, network switches, and smart home gear [4].
Burke stressed a point that cuts in the company’s favor on one narrow question. He said this was the television’s native functionality and did not require any vulnerability to work [3]. Ars Technica, which obtained a statement from LG, also noted honestly that it remains unclear whether all of that information is actually transmitted to LG, or whether some of it serves ordinary purposes such as diagnostics [3].
Separately, the researchers reported remote code execution vulnerabilities to LG and have withheld the details while responsible disclosure runs its course [4]. Malwarebytes framed the consequence plainly. A compromised television is not only a privacy matter. It can give an attacker a foothold on a home or business network, access to audio, and a path to probe other devices [4]. For anyone running a business from a spare bedroom, that is a professional exposure, not a hobbyist concern.
How Can a Television Track What You Watch When It Is Not Online?
The mechanism is Automatic Content Recognition, usually shortened to ACR. It samples what appears on the screen or comes through the speakers, builds a digital fingerprint from that sample, and compares the fingerprint against a reference database to identify programs, advertisements, and viewing habits [4].
The important distinction is that ACR does not read app data. It reads the signal itself. PCMag’s Will Greenwald, a certified television calibrator with two decades in the field, explains that fingerprinting works no matter which app, service, or media format delivers the picture [6]. A Blu-ray disc, a ripped file playing from a home server, a game console, or any other HDMI input can all be identified without the content ever touching the internet [6].
Three independent lines of evidence now support that description, which is why it deserves more weight than the disputed audio claims. Burke reported that using an LG smart television as a plain monitor does not necessarily end all of the functionality at issue [3]. Anna Maria Mandalari, an Associate Professor at University College London who co-authored a 2024 study of ACR on Samsung and LG sets, found that ACR related communication occurred on an opted in LG television while it displayed linear broadcast television and content from HDMI connected devices [5]. Greenwald describes the same behavior from the settings side [6].
One honest caveat belongs here. Streaming apps already know what you select, because that is how streaming functions at all [6]. What separates ACR is that it covers everything else in the house.
What Does LG Say Is Actually Happening?
LG deserves a full hearing, and its statement to TechRadar was detailed. The company said the claims in the video are not true, and that its televisions process voice data only when the voice button on the remote is pressed and held, or when a wake word is recognized after the owner has activated the Far-Field voice recognition feature [5]. Outside those instances, LG said, the sets do not collect or record ambient conversations, and when a wake word is not recognized, the audio is handled locally on the device, immediately deleted, and never sent to a server [5]. LG also said network scanning exists to support smart television features and is standard across smart televisions and smart home devices [5]. It described ACR as opt in, and said that without consent, ACR data is not used for advertising purposes [5].
In a longer response on its own site, LG said recent coverage may have contributed to misconceptions and that its smart televisions do not continuously record or transmit conversations [2].
One qualifier deserves prominence rather than a footnote. Malwarebytes reported that the audio demonstration involved a compromised television, and does not establish that uncompromised LG sets routinely record conversations [4]. Much of the coverage elsewhere carried the demonstration without that distinction. Mandalari’s testing also produced a finding in LG’s favor. She reported that ACR reporting to advertisers ends when users opt out [5].
On security, LG conceded that no connected product is ever completely immune from vulnerabilities, which is why ongoing monitoring and testing matter [2]. As of this writing, the company has not publicly addressed the specific vulnerabilities the researchers reported [4].
Who Is Paying for the Television in Your Living Room?
Here is the part that touches the family budget. Greenwald puts the business model without hedging. The manufacturer can sell viewing data to any company that wants to understand household viewing habits [6]. LG’s advertising arm, LG Ad Solutions, has said in recent marketing materials that it can reach 363 million addressable secondary devices in the United States, a figure that comes from the company’s own sales pitch [3].
Combine the pieces and the value becomes obvious. Network inventory, ACR viewing data, and advertising identifiers together can support detailed profiles of what a household watches and which devices it owns [4]. Level1Techs researcher Wendell Wilson made the retention point bluntly, observing that storing text indefinitely costs very little [3].
Tom’s Guide argues that one reason televisions keep getting better and cheaper is that manufacturers offset their costs by collecting and selling user data [1]. That trade may be defensible when a buyer knowingly accepts a cheaper set in exchange for advertising. It is harder to defend at $2,500 [3]. A customer paying flagship prices has a reasonable expectation that he is the customer rather than the inventory.
None of this is unique to one brand. Hisense, Samsung, Sony, and TCL have all drawn criticism over ACR [1]. Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, a Managing Director at the International Association of Privacy Professionals, says the collection is fairly standard across the industry and extends to streaming devices as well as televisions, though companies differ a great deal in how they handle what they gather [5]. Households already cutting back on recurring expenses should treat this as a second bill that arrives quietly, paid in data rather than dollars.
Which Settings Should You Check Tonight?
Start with the naming problem, because it is both the practical obstacle and the accountability point. On LG televisions, the ACR feature is labeled Live Plus, and the control sits five levels deep, under Settings, then General, then System, then Advanced Settings, then Live Plus [6]. Nothing in that label tells an owner what the feature does.
Other brands bury it under equally forgettable names. On Amazon Fire TV, which also powers sets from Hisense and Panasonic, the path runs Settings, Preferences, Privacy Settings, Automatic Content Recognition, and Greenwald recommends turning off Device Usage Data, Collect App, and Over-The-Air Data at the same time [6]. Roku owners go to Settings, Privacy, Smart TV Experience, then uncheck Use Information for TV Inputs [6]. On newer Samsung sets, the route is Settings, All Settings, General and Privacy, Terms and Privacy, where Viewing Information Services and Interest-Based Advertising can both be disabled [6]. Sony uses Settings, Initial Setup, then Interactive TV Settings or Samba Interactive TV [6]. Vizio hides it under System, Reset and Admin, Viewing Data [6]. Greenwald warns that names and menu paths vary by brand, platform, and model year, since manufacturers rearrange interfaces in software updates [6].
The network side matters just as much. Malwarebytes recommends installing firmware updates promptly, reviewing the privacy controls under Settings or Privacy and Terms, placing televisions and other smart home devices on a separate guest or IoT network so a compromised device cannot reach the main one, and disabling UPnP on the router unless it is genuinely needed [4]. The root habit is the consent screen itself. Declining optional advertising and voice features during setup prevents most of this rather than undoing it later [4].
Burke raised one wrinkle worth knowing in an apartment building. Internet providers including Comcast and AT&T broadcast neighborhood hotspots from customer routers, and devices sometimes connect to those open networks automatically, which makes this a broader concern across brands [3].
Will Anyone Hold Smart TV Makers to Account?
Some accountability has already arrived on American soil. Zweifel-Keegan notes that LG recently settled with the Texas Attorney General and agreed to strengthen its opt in flows [5]. That reference is the only account of the settlement in the available reporting, without a date or dollar figure attached, so treat the details as unconfirmed. His broader framing is that a gap between consumer expectations and reality is precisely where consumer protection law steps in [5].
still startled to learn that their living room hardware maps their local network
Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, IAPP [5]
Lillian Edwards, a Professor of Law, Innovation, and Society at Newcastle University, points to the setup screen as the weak link. People consent to things they do not fully understand during a fast setup, she says, because they simply want the television working [5]. Her standard is the European rule that consent be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous [5]. American households do not have that protection, which is worth saying plainly rather than implying otherwise.
The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office told TechRadar that manufacturers should gather only the personal information necessary for their products, be transparent about it, build data protection into the product, offer privacy protective settings by default, and make consent as easy to withdraw as it was to give [5]. Again, that is a foreign regulator describing a benchmark rather than a right an American reader can invoke.
Edwards offers a conclusion that should sit well with anyone who trusts markets more than agencies. In her view, bad publicity is more likely to change LG’s behavior than a regulator is [5].
Final Thoughts
The honest version of this story sits between the two loudest positions. The most alarming claim, that a television captures audio while it appears to be off, is disputed, and the demonstration reportedly involved a compromised set [4]. The quieter findings are the ones that survive scrutiny, because LG confirms much of the behavior itself. The televisions do scan local networks, and ACR does fingerprint what plays on the screen [3] [5].
The gap that no denial has closed is the one Mandalari identified. LG says that without consent, ACR data is not used for advertising purposes, which is not the same statement as saying no ACR data is collected or processed for any purpose, and she argues the company would need to clarify the full data lifecycle, including what is retained, where it goes, and every purpose it serves [5].
A household that pays flagship prices for a television has bought a piece of property. Reasonable people can disagree about advertising and still agree that the terms of the arrangement ought to be legible at the point of sale, not buried five menus deep behind a name like Live Plus. Until that changes, the leverage sits with the owner, exercised in the settings menu tonight and at the checkout counter next time. Twenty minutes of menu work per set removes most of what is at issue here, and it pairs well with the other practical steps that protect household money. Nobody is coming to do it for you.
Works Cited
[1] Desjardin, Michael. “Yes, LG Smart TVs Know More about You Than You Think, but So Do Other TV Brands.” Tom’s Guide, 11 Sept. 2026, www.tomsguide.com/tvs/yes-lg-smart-tvs-know-more-about-you-than-you-think-but-so-do-other-tv-brands.
[2] Chen, Jackson. “LG Denies Accusations of Smart TVs Continuously Recording Its Users.” Engadget, 12 Sept. 2026, www.engadget.com/2256728/lg-denies-accusations-of-smart-tvs-continuously-recording-its-users.
[3] Harding, Scharon. “LG TV Shown Scanning LAN for Third-Party Phones and Other Devices.” Ars Technica, 8 Sept. 2026, arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/lg-tv-shown-capable-of-tracking-user-activity-even-when-offline.
[4] Arntz, Pieter. “LG TV Flaws Could Let Attackers Listen In, Even in Standby Mode.” Malwarebytes, 7 Sept. 2026, www.malwarebytes.com/blog/privacy/2026/09/lg-tv-flaws-could-let-attackers-listen-in-even-in-standby-mode.
[5] Nield, David. “LG’s Denial over TV Spying Claims ‘Does Not Address the Full Privacy Picture’, Experts Say, after Report Accuses It of Making ‘216,000,000 Spy TVs’.” TechRadar, 11 Sept. 2026, www.techradar.com/televisions/lgs-denial-over-tv-spying-claims-does-not-address-the-full-privacy-picture-experts-say-after-report-accuses-it-of-making-216-000-000-spy-tvs.
[6] Greenwald, Will. “Is Your TV Spying on You? The Hidden Setting Watching Everything You Do (And How to Stop It).” PCMag, 8 Sept. 2026, www.pcmag.com/explainers/is-your-tv-spying-on-you-hidden-setting-watching-everything-how-to-stop.