LG Electronics has pushed back against privacy concerns over a recent Gamers Nexus investigation, stating that the voice data in its smart TVs is only actively processed when users hold down the microphone button on the remote or explicitly trigger the “Hi LG” wake word.     
   
Addressing the findings that its sets scan local Wi-Fi networks, LG acknowledged the behaviour but characterised local network discovery as a standard smart TV function required to deliver core smart features and device interconnectivity.
   
The company also emphasised that its Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology, which identifies movie and show titles playing on screen, remains an opt-in feature.
   
However, the debate surrounding the investigation highlighted broader complexities in smart TV auditing, as industry critics noted that Gamers Nexus rooted the TV’s operating system to expose the background processes.
   
Meanwhile, analysis from HDTV Test pointed out that the testing focused exclusively on United States models, leaving open questions about whether European sets behave differently under strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) frameworks.
   
Nevertheless, analysts argued that LG’s clarifications failed to resolve underlying security risks inherent in modern connected displays, even as LG’s corporate privacy policy permits data sharing with advertising partners as well as law enforcement.