LG says its smart TVs aren’t spying on you
They’re just being smart.
Black labrador retriever puppy. By Stefan Christian Cioata/GettyImages
- LG says its smart TVs do not record ambient conversations unless voice controls are activated.
- Voice data is processed when users press the remote button or enable wake-word recognition.
- Researchers claimed some LG TVs store conversations and send device and network data to LG Ad Solutions.
- LG says personalized ad tracking is optional and only used for advertising with user consent.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
South Korean electronics manufacturer LG denies that its smart TVs are secretly eavesdropping on people.
According to LG, smart TVs process voice data only when the voice button on the remote control is pressed and held, or when a wake word is recognized after the user has activated the Far-Field voice recognition feature.
LG’s smart TVs do not collect or record ambient conversations under any other circumstances.
Furthermore, the electronics manufacturer says its TVs can scan for and connect to nearby devices on the same network. However, this is a standard feature of smart TVs and smart home devices.
Lastly, the automatic content recognition (ACR) feature is provided on an opt-in basis to deliver personalized content recommendations, services, and advertisements.
“If a user does not consent to the applicable optional agreement, ACR data is not used for advertising purposes,” LG said in a statement to Tom’s Hardware.
Earlier this week, researchers claimed that some LG smart TVs can secretly spy on users due to their built-in advertising functionality. Regular conversations could be converted to plain text and stored in the television's logs before being uploaded to LG’s servers.
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According to Gamers Nexus, LG’s smart TVs record audio, even when they’re not connected to the internet.
In addition, LG televisions are constantly scanning local networks to identify devices in the immediate vicinity of the TV, including smartphones, smartwatches, network printers, air conditioning units, and other devices. It then collects data such as IP addresses, location, and the names of nearby WiFi networks.
All of this data is reportedly transmitted to LG Ad Solutions.
It’s worth noting that Gamers Nexus only looked at what LG’s smart TVs are doing in the US. It’s unclear whether the TVs can eavesdrop on European users, who are protected by laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
