If your television runs LG’s webOS, it may be listening to you even when you think it is turned off, and sending what it hears to LG’s ad business. A new investigation by Gamers Nexus put retail LG OLED sets under a microscope and found audio capture, home-network snooping, and logged conversations that have nothing to do with changing the channel.
What the investigation found
Working with Level1Techs and independent security researchers, the team used packet captures and firmware analysis on LG TVs including the LG OLED G5. The findings go well beyond the Automatic Content Recognition, or ACR, that smart TVs have long used to fingerprint what is on screen.
According to the testers, the sets were continuously scanning the home network for phones, PCs, printers, and smart-home hardware, and logging nearby Wi-Fi names and signal strengths along with location data.
| What investigators observed | Detail |
|---|---|
| Microphone capture | Audio logged even while the screen appeared powered down in standby |
| Local storage then upload | Voice data saved when offline, uploaded once the TV reconnected to the internet |
| Network mapping | TVs swept the LAN for phones, PCs, and smart-home devices |
| Plaintext transcripts | Conversation audio transcribed and held in memory with no link to any command |
| RCE flaws | Remote code execution bugs in webOS, now in responsible disclosure |
Audio capture when the TV is off
The most worrying finding is that the microphone kept working in standby. AppleInsider reports the TVs recorded clean audio while appearing powered down, and could even pull audio from a connected webcam when the display was used as a monitor.
That captured speech was transcribed to plaintext in memory, with test phrases like credit card numbers found readable in logs. Because the audio was held and re-uploaded when the network came back, disconnecting the TV did not erase what it had already stored.
Separately, remote code execution vulnerabilities in webOS mean a compromised set could give an attacker a foothold on your home network. Those flaws are still under responsible disclosure, so LG has not publicly patched them yet.
Where the data goes
The collected viewing and audio data is routed to LG Ad Solutions, the company’s advertising arm. LG has said it has sold roughly 216 million smart TVs globally, and the ad division says it can reach 363 million secondary devices in the US alone by tracking other hardware on the same network.
For Filipino households, the stakes are practical. LG is one of the most popular TV brands in the country, and its webOS sets dominate the OLED and premium smart TV tiers. If your living room TV is an LG, this applies to you, not just to viewers in the United States.
LG has been leaning hard into AI-powered TVs and connected-home features this year, from Voice ID recognition on its 2026 range to an entire AI home ecosystem, which makes privacy settings worth reviewing as more of your data flows into the TV’s OS.
How to lock your LG TV down
The researchers’ blunt recommendation is to take the TV off the internet entirely and use an external streaming stick or box, which also bypasses the ACR tracking baked into the built-in apps.
- Disconnect the cable. Unplug Ethernet and disable Wi-Fi in the TV’s network settings, not just the quick power menu.
- Use a separate streaming device. An external box or stick keeps your apps running without feeding LG’s servers.
- Isolate it on a guest network. Malwarebytes suggests an IoT network so a compromised TV cannot reach your phones and laptops.
- Block it at the router. Firewall rules that cut the TV’s outbound traffic stop data leaving even for screens you cannot reach directly.
- Keep firmware current. Install updates promptly once LG ships the webOS security patches.
The catch is that making the TV fully offline disables smart features like casting and voice search. It is a trade-off between convenience and privacy, and after a probe like this, many owners are deciding privacy wins.
LG had not publicly commented on the findings as of writing. If you own an LG smart TV and want to see the full evidence trail, the Gamers Nexus video walks through every test.
