LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby
- ID
- 22601
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 09 Sep 2026, 12:07 AM
- Fetched
- 11 Sep 2026, 1:30 AM
- Provider
- Hacker News
- Category
- dev-community
- Original URL
- https://www.theverge.com/tech/991190/lg-tv-spying-standby-recording-wi-fi-scanning-gamers-nexus
- Source URL
- https://hnrss.org/best
Summary
- Score
- 3.0
- Created
- 11 Sep 2026, 2:38 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developers
What happened
Gamers Nexus, working with Level1Techs and independent security researchers, found that retail LG OLED TVs continuously log and upload user data—including nearby Wi-Fi network scans, LAN device discovery, microphone audio recordings (even in standby and after internet disconnection), and Automatic Content Recognition across HDMI and other inputs. Packet captures showed data being sent to LG Ad Solutions, and RTINGS separately confirmed that ACR is used by nearly every smart TV manufacturer.
Why it matters
For builders, the main takeaway is not to connect smart TVs to networks you care about and to treat consumer IoT devices as untrusted endpoints on any home or office LAN you develop or test on. There is no direct software, AI, or startup action item beyond general network hygiene.
Discussion angle
A quick cautionary note on segmenting IoT devices from your dev network—smart TVs are scanning your LAN and logging audio, so don't put them on the same VLAN as your work machines.