LG rejects allegations that smart TVs record ambient conversations

LG has denied allegations that its smart televisions record ambient conversations while on standby or store recordings for later transmission, after an investigation examined the company’s audio handling, network scanning and data collection systems.

The investigation by Gamers Nexus, Level1Techs and independent security researchers alleged that LG televisions captured audio, retained transcripts and collected information about nearby devices. Al Jazeera said the claims had not been independently verified.

LG told Al Jazeera that voice data is recorded only when a user presses and holds the voice button on the remote or activates the “Hi LG” wake word after enabling Far-Field voice recognition. The company said unmatched wake-word audio is immediately deleted and that its TVs do not otherwise collect or record ambient conversations.

Researchers said they were able to capture audio while an LG television was in hibernation, and alleged that background noise and unclear voice interactions could remain stored locally, be transcribed and later uploaded. The available material does not establish whether any captured audio or transcripts were used for advertising, diagnostics or speech-model training.

The investigation also raised questions about network scanning, including the collection of internal IP addresses, nearby Wi-Fi networks and location data. LG described device discovery as a standard function supporting screen casting, media sharing and smart-home connections.

LG said automatic content recognition, voice recognition and interest-based advertising are separate features requiring explicit user opt-in consent and can be disabled through the television’s settings. Researchers and experts said retained audio or network information could create privacy and security risks, particularly as televisions remain in homes for years.