LG Smart TVs Caught Scanning Networks and Logging Audio in Standby

Your LG smart TV may be doing far more than displaying your favorite shows while it sits “off” in the corner of your living room.

A new investigation from Gamers Nexus, conducted alongside Level1Techs and independent security researchers, alleges that certain LG OLED televisions continue to scan home networks and capture microphone audio even in standby mode, then upload that data once the set reconnects to the internet.

In a 135-minute video breakdown, Gamers Nexus founder Steve Burke detailed tests run on retail LG OLED models, including the flagship G5. Using Wireshark packet captures, the team observed the TVs actively scanning the local network for unrelated hardware such as smartphones and smartwatches belonging to staff who weren’t even involved in the testing.

Beyond device discovery, the sets reportedly logged the names and signal strengths of neighboring Wi-Fi networks along with location-adjacent data, effectively mapping the household’s entire connected environment.

The more troubling claim concerns audio. Researchers say the TVs captured clear microphone audio while the screens appeared powered down, and that this behavior persisted even after the Ethernet cables were physically disconnected.

According to the findings, the television stored the recorded audio locally and automatically uploaded it as soon as network connectivity was restored, feeding it into LG’s advertising infrastructure through LG Ad Solutions.

LG has previously stated publicly that its televisions “do not collect, record, or store ambient conversations.”

The Gamers Nexus team says its testing contradicts that assurance, as detailed in the video investigation it published, which shows on-device transcription of spoken prompts into plain-text logs rather than raw ambient recordings alone.

This distinction matters for consumers: even if LG’s marketing language is technically accurate about “ambient conversations,” the underlying voice-assistant pipeline still appears to capture, process, and retain speech data locally before it ever leaves the device.

Analysis Parameter	Technical Observation & Behavior	Privacy & Operational Impact
Local Network Discovery	Actively scans LAN for unlinked smartphones and smartwatches	Maps home network topology without user initiation or pairing
Wi-Fi Environment Recon	Catalogs neighboring SSIDs, signal strengths, and channels	Enables precise household and location-adjacent triangulation
Standby Audio Recording	Transcribes microphone audio locally when screen is off	Operates while offline and uploads cached logs once reconnected
Content Recognition (ACR)	Operates continuously across all inputs, including HDMI	Tracks viewing habits in private homes, boardrooms, and clinics
Data Monetization Engine	Transmits harvested data to LG Ad Solutions infrastructure	Extends profiling across an estimated 33 million opted-in displays

The behavior isn’t confined to home use. Researchers noted that automatic content recognition, or ACR, keeps operating even when an LG panel is used purely as a passive HDMI monitor, meaning displays deployed in hospitals, hotel rooms, and corporate boardrooms could theoretically be swept into the same data pipeline.

One clinician who reviewed the findings reportedly raised concerns about what this means for patient confidentiality in settings where LG panels sit near sensitive conversations.

LG Ad Solutions openly markets ACR as a way to deliver “glass-level” viewing data to advertisers across all inputs, and the company has scaled the program to roughly 33 million opted-in sets in the United States alone, later expanded through partnerships with Nielsen for national audience measurement.

Security researchers responding to the disclosure recommend disconnecting smart TVs from home Wi-Fi entirely and instead routing streaming through external devices like a Roku, Apple TV, or Fire Stick, which limits the television’s own software from reaching the network.

Disabling the built-in microphone in settings, where the option exists, and periodically checking privacy dashboards for opt-out toggles are also advised as immediate mitigation steps while LG responds to the growing scrutiny.

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