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LG televisions are still watching. An investigation by Gamers Nexus found that LG TVs keep scanning every device connected to a home network — and keep capturing audio through their microphones — even when the screens are completely off.
That’s a problem. Four months ago, LG went to Texas regulators and promised it had stopped exactly that kind of monitoring. The Gamers Nexus findings say otherwise. The gap between what LG told regulators and what the TVs are actually doing is pretty hard to explain away, and it’s the kind of thing that tends to get regulators moving.
No comment from LG. Not yet, anyway.
What Gamers Nexus Actually Found
The investigation was specific. LG TVs aren’t just passively sitting on a home network — they’re actively scanning it. Every device connected to the same Wi-Fi gets picked up. Phones, laptops, smart speakers, anything. And the microphones don’t go quiet when the screen does. Audio capture keeps running even with the display off, which is basically the opposite of what most people assume happens when they hit the power button.
That’s the core finding. And it lands differently because of the timing. LG didn’t just quietly have these features running in the background — the company made an active commitment to Texas regulators that it had shut them down. Four months passed. The TVs kept doing it anyway.
Whether that’s a technical failure, a policy failure, or something else entirely isn’t clear yet. LG hasn’t said. The company’s silence on the Gamers Nexus findings leaves the obvious question hanging: did LG know the monitoring continued, or didn’t they?
Both answers are bad.
Texas Regulators and What Comes Next
Texas is now in an awkward spot. Regulators there accepted LG’s assurances and, presumably, closed or paused any action based on those assurances. If the Gamers Nexus investigation holds up, those assurances were wrong — either because LG gave regulators inaccurate information, or because the company thought it had fixed the problem and hadn’t actually done so.
Either way, it’s probably not the end of the story in Texas. Regulators who get told something has stopped and then find out it hasn’t tend to come back harder the second time. The original commitment LG made gives Texas a fairly clean hook for follow-up action, and the Gamers Nexus findings give them the factual basis to use it.
What form that takes — a new inquiry, a formal investigation, fines — unclear. No details from the Texas side yet.
And it’s not just Texas. Smart TV privacy has been a live issue across multiple states and at the federal level for years. The idea that a television is passively collecting data on everything in a household, including audio, even in an “off” state, is the kind of thing that consumer privacy advocates have been warning about for a long time. LG isn’t the only TV manufacturer to have faced questions about data practices, but the specific combination here — an active regulatory promise, followed by evidence the promise wasn’t kept — makes this case sharper than most.
Consumers who own LG televisions are in a frustrating position right now. They probably adjusted their privacy settings, maybe saw news coverage of LG’s commitment to Texas regulators, and figured the issue was handled. The Gamers Nexus findings say it wasn’t. And without any statement from LG explaining what’s going on or what changes are coming, there’s no clear action for those consumers to take. Turn off the mic? The investigation suggests that doesn’t fully work. Disconnect from Wi-Fi? That breaks half the TV’s features.
The trust problem here is real. LG sells a lot of televisions. Smart TVs are basically the default now — it’s hard to buy a dumb screen anymore. So the number of households potentially affected by ongoing network scanning and audio capture isn’t small. And the more time passes without LG addressing this directly, the worse the optics get.
Some of this is a broader industry problem. Smart home devices — TVs, speakers, doorbells, thermostats — have accumulated an enormous amount of ambient data collection capability, often with privacy settings that don’t work as advertised or that reset after software updates. Manufacturers have generally moved faster on features than on the infrastructure needed to actually honor user privacy choices.
But LG made a specific promise to a specific regulator. That’s what makes this different from the general smart TV privacy conversation. It’s not just “the industry has a problem.” It’s “this company said it fixed the problem, and it seems like it didn’t.”
LG’s silence continues. Gamers Nexus published the findings. Texas regulators have them now too, presumably.
The TVs are still scanning.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the Gamers Nexus investigation find about LG TVs?
Gamers Nexus found that LG televisions continue to scan all devices on a home network and capture microphone audio even when the TV screen is turned off.
What did LG promise Texas regulators?
LG assured Texas regulators that it had stopped its tracking and monitoring activities on its televisions — a promise made roughly four months before the Gamers Nexus investigation published its findings.
Why It Matters
This situation highlights ongoing concerns regarding consumer privacy and the integrity of corporate commitments, particularly in the tech sector. As smart devices become increasingly integrated into daily life, failures to adhere to privacy promises can erode consumer trust and spark regulatory scrutiny, potentially impacting market dynamics and the competitive landscape for smart home technology. Such incidents may also prompt calls for stricter regulations and standards governing data privacy, which could influence future product development and corporate practices across the industry.
