Your TV has Ears

This one is kind of wild - a group called Gamers Nexus put out a report saying LG Smart TVs are doing way more behind the scenes than most people realize. They said the TVs are recording audio inside people's homes, scanning Wi-Fi networks to see what other devices you have connected, and tracking what you watch. The creepiest part: this continues to happen even when the TV is on standby mode or disconnected from the internet. It just stores the data locally to upload it later.

LG pushed back and said the TVs don't constantly record conversations. According to them, voice recording only starts when you press the mic button or say, "Hi LG!" They admitted the TVs scan your home network, but that it's just for normal smart home features. And the feature that tracks what you watch only turns on if you agreed to it during setup.

In reality, most people don't actually read those setup screens. We click Agree! until it lets us watch something, which unfortunately permits audio recording without our knowledge.

I don't think LG is sitting in a room listening to our conversations. But the fact that this is even possible is the issue. If you own one, it's worth going into the settings and turning off the tracking and voice features you don't actually use.