LG Denies Surveillance Allegations Following Security Research Report

LG has denied allegations that its smart TVs record ambient conversations or spy on users. The company stated that voice data is only processed when a user holds the microphone button on the remote or uses the Hi LG wake word after activating voice recognition features. LG clarified that while the TV monitors for the wake word even in standby mode, this audio is processed locally and deleted immediately if no command is detected.

The company's response follows an investigation by YouTube channels Gamers Nexus and Level1Techs, along with cybersecurity researchers. The researchers claim to have found telemetry routines active during standby or while disconnected from the internet. Their findings suggest that audio may be stored locally for later transmission to servers, that recording continues for up to 15 seconds after a command, and that the devices map home networks via the UPnP protocol to catalog connected devices.

LG does not deny the ability of its TVs to identify other devices on the same network, stating this is necessary for connectivity and smart home integration. The company also noted that Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) is used for personalized recommendations and ads, but only with explicit user opt-in consent. Researchers, including Yash Vekaria from the University of California, Davis, expressed concern that stored audio could be used for analytics or model training and warned that remote code execution vulnerabilities could allow unauthorized access to these records.