LG smart TVs caught logging audio with the screen off

TL;DR: A Gamers Nexus investigation published on 7 September 2026 found that LG smart TVs can capture clean microphone audio while the screen is off and in standby, convert spoken voice prompts into plain-text logs stored on the TV, and keep saving audio locally even when the TV is disconnected from the internet — uploading the files the moment a connection returns. The same testing showed LG smart TVs constantly scanning the home network to inventory phones, smartwatches, printers and other devices that were never connected to the TV, with all of it feeding LG’s advertising arm. The researchers’ blunt recommendation: disconnect the TV from your network and stream through an external device instead.

LG smart TVs caught logging audio with the screen off — for the millions of households with a webOS set in the living room, this headline reads like a worst-case privacy scenario come true. And unlike the vague “smart TV spying” stories of past years, this one comes with receipts: two hours of network captures, retail TVs bought off the shelf, and a testing budget large enough that LG’s marketing division is now the one being watched. Here is what the investigators actually found, how the data flows back to LG, and exactly what you should do about it if an LG TV sits in your home — whether you are in Malaysia, the US, or anywhere else webOS is sold.

How LG Smart TVs Log Audio With the Screen Off

The investigation was led by Gamers Nexus, working with Wendell Wilson of Level1Techs and independent security researchers MrBruh and unturn. The team spent more than 500 hours and roughly US$70,000 testing retail LG OLED televisions — including the flagship LG G5 — and published its findings in a near-135-minute video on 7 September 2026.

Using the network analysis tool Wireshark to inspect traffic flowing in and out of the TVs, the researchers documented several behaviours that go well beyond what LG has publicly described:

What the test TV did	How it was observed
Recorded clean microphone audio with the screen off	Audio captured while the set sat dark in standby mode
Stored voice prompts as plain text	Speech from voice interactions written into on-device logs
Kept logging while offline	After the TV’s Ethernet was disconnected, it continued storing audio and uploaded the files once reconnected
Kept the mic “open” after speech ended	Microphone stayed active 10–15 seconds after a person stopped talking, potentially capturing bystanders
Bypassed the mute switch	A usable recording was pulled from a second, hidden microphone that the settings-menu mute does not reach
Scanned the whole home network	Inventoried dozens of unrelated devices, plus nearby Wi-Fi networks and their signal strengths
Uploaded viewing fingerprints	~4 GB of Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) data per month in the team’s testing

The audio finding is the one that demands attention. In one test, investigators pulled a clean recording off a TV whose screen was dark and appeared to be off. In another, they disconnected the TV from the internet entirely — and the set simply stored what it heard locally, then pushed the files to LG’s servers the moment network access was restored. That “store now, upload later” behaviour matters because it means disconnecting the TV mid-conversation does not protect you retroactively; the data waits, and it leaves.

There is an important nuance about what kind of audio is involved. LG has said publicly that its TVs “do not collect, record, or store ambient conversations” and that voice features are optional. The Gamers Nexus findings centre on voice interactions — speech captured around voice commands and assistant queries — which LG could argue falls outside that statement. But the researchers’ observation that the microphone remained live for 10 to 15 seconds after someone stopped speaking, and that a second microphone kept working after the main one was muted in settings, suggests the line between “command” and “conversation” is thinner than LG’s phrasing implies. As of 8 September 2026, LG had not issued a public response to the investigation.

Beyond the Microphone: LG Smart TVs Snooping on Your Home Network

The audio logging was only half the story. The same Wireshark captures showed LG smart TVs acting as active network scouts — sweeping the local network on a regular basis and building an inventory of everything connected to it.

In one test, an LG TV identified 38 other devices on the network, including smartphones belonging to staff who did not even know about the investigation, plus smartwatches, a 3D printer, an air purifier, thermostats and a development board. None of those devices had ever been paired with or connected to the television. The TV did not need to be told they existed; it found them itself.

According to the investigators, the sets were capable of collecting and identifying:

Internal IP addresses of every device on the local network
IP address and geolocation data
Names, signal strengths and channels of neighbouring Wi-Fi networks
Phones, smartwatches and other connected hardware by type
The TV’s own on-screen content, via ACR audio/video fingerprinting
Voice commands converted to plain text in on-device logs
The TV’s own privacy and consent settings — including whether the user had opted in or out of data collection

Several details here deserve emphasis for privacy-conscious readers. The capture of neighbouring Wi-Fi network names and signal strengths is significant because that data can be used to estimate a device’s physical location — a technique familiar from Wi-Fi positioning systems, where signal fingerprints are matched against known access points. The researchers also noted that the TV recorded whether the owner had toggled consent settings off, which raises an uncomfortable question: if the TV can log your opt-out choice and still transmit viewing and network data, what exactly is the opt-out buying you?

Crucially, Gamers Nexus said most of this behaviour is built into the TVs by design — it is a feature of LG’s platform, not a security vulnerability that slipped through. The sets ship with broad network listeners and data sweeps running out of the box.

Where All That Data Goes: ACR, LG Ad Solutions and the 4 GB Monthly Upload

The data converges on LG’s advertising business. LG Ad Solutions — spun out as a separate entity from the TV hardware division — openly sells access to what these TVs see. Its own marketing material states that its ACR technology reaches 49 million LG smart TVs in the United States and nearly 216 million LG smart TVs globally, and claims access to 363 million “addressable secondary devices” in the US alone — the phones, tablets and laptops that LG TVs identify sitting on the same networks.

A clip from an LG executive’s own presentation, stitched into the Gamers Nexus video, makes the intent unusually plain: “We know who’s in the LG household. We know which devices are there and how to extend that reach into mobile.”

ACR itself is not new — most major TV brands fingerprint what is on screen to serve targeted ads, and the Texas Attorney General sued LG and four other major TV makers over exactly this practice. LG reached a settlement with Texas in May 2026 requiring clear consent before collecting viewing data and an easy opt-out. What the new investigation adds is the scale of the surrounding collection: the network sweeps, the device inventories, the neighbouring-Wi-Fi metadata, the voice logs, and the roughly 4 GB of ACR-related data the test unit uploaded each month. The investigators also flagged that the data pool can be used beyond consumer advertising — including, per LG’s own positioning, reaching households for political campaigns.

There is a second, quieter tracker in the mix. The researchers identified a Conviva video-analytics component embedded in the TV feed, adding another layer of monitoring around how content is consumed. Researcher MrBruh was blunt about what this means for people who watch IPTV-style channels through LG’s platform: “There’s no privacy watching IPTV via LG channels.” Because DNS requests can reveal which channel is being watched at any given moment, that viewing information can be visible to others on the local network as well as to the internet service provider.

The WebOS Security Angle: RCE Vulnerabilities and Covert Listening

Alongside the data-collection findings, the investigation documented remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities in LG’s webOS operating system. The researchers are withholding technical details while the flaws move through a responsible disclosure process, so LG presumably now has the reports — but as of publication there was no confirmed patch and no public statement.

The researchers’ framing matters here: they are not claiming LG deliberately built covert always-on listening into its TVs. The concern is that the pieces are already in place. A TV that ships with always-listening microphones, broad network listeners, plain-text voice logs and remote code execution vulnerabilities is, in combination, a platform that could be turned into a surveillance device — by LG’s ad business, by a future firmware compromise, or by an attacker who exploits one of those RCE flaws before it is patched. In security terms, that is a very large attack surface sitting in the most shared room of the house.

What This Means for Malaysian LG Smart TV Owners

LG is one of the most popular TV brands in Malaysian living rooms, and webOS sets here are typically connected to home Wi-Fi for streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, YouTube and the catch-up apps bundled by local providers — often alongside an Astro or unifi TV box plugged into HDMI.

For Malaysian readers, several things follow from this investigation:

Your data crosses borders. The Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA) governs personal data processed in Malaysia, but the flows documented here run from your living room to LG entities abroad — where Malaysian law has little reach and local enforcement has historically been light. Consent toggles in the TV’s menus are your only practical lever.
The box on your TV stand is not just a screen. If your LG set is online, it is reasonable to assume some level of ACR and network data collection is active unless you have disabled it — the investigators found collection baked into the platform, not gated behind setup choices.
Hotels and offices are exposed too. LG is a major supplier of hospitality and commercial displays. A webOS TV in a hotel room, boardroom or clinic waiting area is still a webOS TV — with a microphone and network scanning, in a space where the conversations are not yours to consent for. If you manage such a device for a business in Malaysia, treat this as a compliance issue, not a curiosity.
Local streaming setups are actually an easy fix. Unlike users who rely on their TV’s built-in apps, many Malaysian households already have an external box (Astro Ultra, unifi TV box, a Chromecast or an Android TV stick) connected over HDMI. That means cutting the TV’s own network connection costs you almost nothing.

How to Stop Your LG TV From Listening: Step-by-Step

If you own an LG smart TV and want to limit what it collects, here is the practical checklist, from the most effective option down:

Disconnect the TV from the internet. This is the only fix the researchers say reliably works. Unplug the Ethernet cable or remove the Wi-Fi credentials in Settings → General → Network. The TV becomes a “dumb” display, and every data flow documented above stops at the wall.
Stream through an external device instead. Plug a Chromecast, Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV box or your existing Astro/unifi TV box into an HDMI port. You keep Netflix, YouTube and everything else; the TV just shows the picture.
Disable ACR (“Live Plus”). If you must keep the TV online, turn off LG’s ACR system. On most webOS versions: Settings → General → System → Advanced Settings → Live Plus. Menu names vary by webOS version and region, so also look for “Viewing information,” “Advertising” or “Live Plus” under the Privacy or General menus, and switch them off.
Turn off the voice and AI features. Disable voice recognition, voice search and the “Hi LG” always-listening wake word where offered. Do not assume the mute toggle in settings is enough — the investigation found a second microphone the mute does not reach.
Say no to ad personalisation. Opt out of any “customised ads,” “ad ID” or “interest-based advertising” options in the TV’s privacy settings. Remember the TV logs whether you opted out — which is itself a data point worth knowing.
Watch for firmware updates and LG’s response. LG had not commented on the investigation as of 8 September 2026. When it does — and when patches for the disclosed webOS vulnerabilities land — apply updates promptly. If LG’s response is silence, treat that as your answer about how seriously your data is regarded.

The blunt version, from the researchers themselves: treat a smart TV like the “dumb” TVs of the past — no internet connection, no account login, no problem. Everything else is damage limitation.

FAQ: LG Smart TV Privacy Concerns

Does my LG TV listen to me even when the screen is off?
In the Gamers Nexus tests, an LG TV captured clean microphone audio while the screen was dark and the set appeared to be in standby. LG has previously said its TVs do not collect, record or store ambient conversations, and the findings centre on voice interactions rather than background chat — but the mic staying open 10–15 seconds after speech ends, and a second mic the mute switch cannot reach, blur that distinction. If this concerns you, disconnect the TV from the network.

Is LG the only TV brand doing this?
No. ACR-based viewing tracking is standard across the major smart TV platforms, which is why Texas sued LG and four other TV makers over the practice in 2025–2026. What makes the LG findings stand out is the extra collection layer: network sweeps, device inventories, neighbouring-Wi-Fi metadata and voice logs that go beyond plain viewing fingerprinting.

How do I know if my LG TV has been uploading my data?
If your TV is connected to the internet, assume some ACR data is flowing unless you have disabled it — the investigation found collection enabled by design, and its test unit uploaded roughly 4 GB of ACR-related data per month. You cannot fully audit the traffic from the on-screen menus; the reliable fix is disconnecting the TV from your Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

Can LG smart TVs be hacked to spy on people?
The investigators found remote code execution vulnerabilities in webOS that, combined with the built-in microphones and network listeners, could in principle turn a TV into a covert listening device. Details are withheld pending responsible disclosure, so no working exploit has been published. The bigger near-term concern is the by-design data collection LG itself operates.

I have an LG TV in Malaysia — what should I do right now?
Start with the free, five-minute fix: remove the TV’s internet connection and stream through your existing Astro/unifi TV box or a streaming stick. If you want to keep the TV online, disable Live Plus (ACR) and all voice/AI features in Settings, and turn off ad personalisation — then watch for LG’s official response and firmware patches in the coming weeks.

Conclusion: A Screen in Standby Is Still a Device on Your Network

LG smart TVs caught logging audio with the screen off is not a story about a single bug that LG can quietly patch. It is a description of how the product was designed: always-listening microphones, network-scanning software, plain-text voice logs, and a direct pipeline to an advertising company that openly boasts it knows “who’s in the LG household.” The investigation ran about four months after LG signed a Texas settlement promising clearer consent and easier opt-outs — which tells you how much weight that settlement carried in practice.

The practical response does not require a privacy law degree. Disconnect the TV, or at minimum switch off Live Plus and the voice features, and move your streaming to an external box. Malaysian owners are better positioned than most to do this painlessly, because the Astro and unifi TV boxes already sitting beside their LG sets make the TV’s own internet connection optional. Your TV’s job is to show the picture — it does not need to know your Wi-Fi neighbours’ network names, your smartwatch’s IP address, or what you said after the screen went dark.