LG TVs are reportedly scanning local area networks (LANs) for devices, including phones and smartwatches, even when turned off. The practice, discovered by Gamers Nexus and Level1Techs, has raised concerns about user privacy and data collection.
Steve Burke, editor-in-chief of Gamers Nexus, stated that the LG G5 OLED TV “crawled our entire network and found dozens of unrelated devices, including smartwatches and phones of our staff who didn’t even know we were working on this.” This scanning capability appears to be linked to LG Ad Solutions’ ability to reach 363 million “addressable secondary devices” in the US, according to recent marketing materials.
Researchers used Wireshark, a network protocol analyzer, to inspect the TV’s firmware and found it can identify a user’s IP address, geographic location, nearby Wi-Fi network names and signal strength, and the internal IP addresses of other devices on the network. LG Electronics responded with a statement that its TVs identify compatible devices on the same network to enable features such as device connectivity, content sharing, or smart home functionality.
It is currently unclear if LG uses this functionality for purposes beyond advertising, such as diagnostics, or if the collected information is sent to LG. However, the presence of this technology in consumer devices remains a concern.
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