LG TVs caught logging and uploading data even offline or on standby

LG smart TVs log and upload data about their owners and their homes almost constantly, even when they are offline or in standby mode, according to a new report from the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus.

What the TVs do

Gamers Nexus partnered with fellow YouTubers Level1Techs and independent security researchers for the investigation, which tested retail LG OLED sets. Packet captures showed the TVs scanning the local area network for nearby hardware such as phones and smartwatches, logging location data and details of nearby Wi-Fi networks, and feeding that information back to LG Ad Solutions.

More concerning still, the TVs were able to record microphone audio while in standby; the behaviour continued even after a set was disconnected from the internet, with audio files stored offline and uploaded once a connection was restored.

What ACR is for

The final piece is Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), technology that uses audio and video sampling to work out what you are actually watching, examining both apps on the TV's own smart interface and content connected through HDMI and other ports. ACR is not only an LG issue: a new video from RTINGS digs into how almost every smart TV manufacturer uses it.

Not the first time

This is not LG's first brush with Gamers Nexus. In July this year the channel flagged that some LG monitors were automatically installing an app that collected device data and ran pop-up ads for LG's other apps and even McAfee antivirus. Public pressure from that video prompted an intervention from Microsoft and ultimately led LG to disable the pop-up ads.