YouTuber claims LG TVs spy on users even when turned off

Investigation Overview

LG allegedly eavesdrops on users through their smart TVs, according to an investigation on YouTube. The channel Gamers Nexus claims LG televisions are constantly logging data from users and uploading it back to the company, even when in standby mode or completely disconnected from the internet.

Security Vulnerabilities

Gamers Nexus says the eavesdropping is possible due to the "advertising functionality" built into the devices. The video shows how software vulnerabilities allowed them to listen to and record audio from the on-device microphones, and claims these flaws could be "exploited to convert the TVs into covert listening devices." The channel said these security vulnerabilities are being reported through the necessary channels.

Network Scanning and ACR

The LG TVs tested also scan users' WiFi to find nearby devices connected to the local network. A majority of the issues uncovered are related to LG's Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology, which utilizes eavesdropping capabilities to find out what a user is watching, what app they are using, and what devices connect to the TV.

Corporate Statements

"We know who is in the LG household," an LG representative said in a corporate video included in the investigation. "We know which devices are there."

"We own the glass," says another LG Ad Solutions representative in another corporate video, boasting about the company's access to its customers.

Scale of Data Collection

As Gamers Nexus points out, LG's advertising platform, LG Ad Solutions, claims on its website that the company can detect 363 million "U.S. addressable secondary devices" even though LG claims it has only sold 216 million LG TVs globally. According to Gamers Nexus, LG TVs also collect a user's IP address, geographic location, the names of every local WiFi network, and the IP addresses of other devices on the network.

Credits and Reach

The Gamers Nexus video was created in partnership with YouTube channel Level1Techs and cybersecurity researchers known as MrBruh and uturn. It has already amassed more than 2 million views over the weekend.

Previous Incidents

As The Verge points out, this isn't Gamers Nexus' first time calling out LG for its practices. Earlier this summer, the channel found that LG was serving its customers with unwanted and intrusive ads on its TV screens and PC monitors. After the video was published and subsequent reports from other outlets came out, Microsoft eventually intervened to address the issue with LG, as Mashable reported at the time.