LG faces renewed privacy backlash over smart TV data collection and monitor practices

Recent investigations reveal that LG’s webOS televisions and monitors may be secretly logging audio and discovering nearby devices, sparking user outrage and questions over privacy practices amid company denials and suggested user mitigations.

The immediate trigger for LG’s latest privacy dispute was a 135-minute investigation published by Gamers Nexus on 7 September 2026, which said retail webOS televisions, including the OLED G5, were not merely running smart-TV analytics but actively mapping the home network around them. Notebookcheck, which reviewed the findings, said the test team worked with Level1Techs and independent security researchers and found evidence that sets could store microphone input even when the screen appeared to be off. (notebookcheck.net)

According to Notebookcheck, packet captures taken with Wireshark indicated that the televisions were discovering unrelated devices on the same network, including phones and smartwatches, and collecting internal addresses, device names and information about neighbouring Wi-Fi networks. The same report said LG’s advertising business claims a global installed base of about 216 million smart TVs, while LG Ad Solutions has said it can reach 363 million secondary addressable devices in the United States. The investigators also focused on automatic content recognition, or ACR, which turns snippets of audio and video into fingerprints so the platform can infer what is being watched, including material arriving through HDMI rather than an in-built app. (notebookcheck.net)

The most serious part of the Gamers Nexus case was not the familiar ACR debate but the claim that webOS flaws could be abused to turn a television into a standby audio logger. Notebookcheck said the team found the set could capture clear microphone audio while appearing powered down, and that recordings made while Ethernet was disconnected could be stored locally and uploaded after connectivity returned. Even critics of LG’s terms have drawn a distinction between that proof-of-concept and any claim that the company routinely records every room conversation by default; Digital Citizen explicitly said neither the television issue nor the monitor issue, by itself, proves secret blanket recording or malicious conduct. (notebookcheck.net)

That technical report lands in the middle of an older argument about consent. HotHardware, Digital Citizen and TechRadar each highlighted language in LG’s smart-TV terms telling owners that, if microphone-based functions are active, they may need to secure permission from other people nearby and notify household members and guests that their voices may be captured. HotHardware argued that this fits a wider smart-TV business model in which lower hardware prices are helped by advertising and data extraction, while TechRadar noted that some readers interpret the wording as legal cover for voice-enabled AI features rather than evidence of constant live surveillance. Either way, the burden appears to shift awkwardly on to the customer in settings such as homes, rented flats and shared offices. (hothardware.com)

LG has already pushed back in formal statements. In comments published by TechRadar on 22 July 2026 and by 01net in an update on 23 July 2026, the company said its televisions “do not collect, record, or store ambient conversations” and described voice recognition as optional and user-initiated. Since then, LG has added a support article dated 2 September 2026 saying updated user agreements took effect on 28 August and were “mainly the Arbitration Agreement”. The same support page says the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy are required for smart services such as Netflix and YouTube, but agreements covering viewing information, voice features and personalised advertising are optional. That does not answer the new security allegations directly, but it does show LG distinguishing between core smart-TV functions and data-sharing consents. (techradar.com)

The television row is also tied to a separate monitor controversy that has damaged LG’s credibility on privacy and software restraint. HotHardware, 01net and abit.ee all reported that some LG monitors could trigger Windows to fetch the LG Monitor App Installer automatically, with promotions for extra software including McAfee. 01net said the behaviour dated back to at least late 2024 and that, in one repeatable test on an UltraGear monitor sold at about $1,200, a McAfee advert appeared on 31 out of 32 consecutive start-ups. Abit.ee added that some older models were reportedly drawn in after a firmware update and said LG documentation gave the installer access to system resources including location, hardware configuration, network activity and account data. HotHardware noted, however, that its own UltraGear 27GL850-B did not appear to show the same behaviour. (hothardware.com)

LG has since tried to close down that part of the backlash. In an official notice dated 3 August 2026, the company said the Monitor App Installer identifies the model locally on the user’s PC, does not collect or transmit personal data, and only presents optional applications. The same notice said a McAfee trial recommendation had appeared only for a limited period in the United States, had never been installed automatically, and had now been removed. LG also said it was updating the installer so customers can choose whether they want it at all. Those points broadly match the position the company gave to 01net and TechRadar in July, although they do not erase the underlying criticism that too much happens before users understand what a newly connected display is doing. (lg.com)

For owners, the practical choices are unattractive. Gamers Nexus’s reported recommendation was to keep affected televisions off the network and use separate streaming hardware instead. Digital Citizen advises switching off voice recognition, microphone access, ACR and personalised advertising where the menus allow it. TechRadar and abit.ee both pointed out the trade-off: declining updates or required agreements can preserve privacy settings in the short term, but may also mean losing security fixes or smart features. On the Windows side, HotHardware and Digital Citizen said users with Windows Pro can block device-associated app downloads through Group Policy, which is becoming the most direct response for anyone who wants a monitor to behave like a monitor and nothing more. (notebookcheck.net)