LG TVs at the center of privacy scandal
LG TVs are considered some of the best on the market, and the company regularly releases updates for them, adding new picture modes and other features. But now the South Korean brand has found itself at the center of a scandal after being accused of spying on device owners.
LG TVs have been at the center of a privacy scandal. Users are accusing LG of secretly listening to conversations on their TVs and collecting data to train artificial intelligence. The situation has become even more tense after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against LG (and several other companies). According to Paxton, these TVs take screenshots without the owner’s consent.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, LG updated its user agreement. However, as BGR reports, the new clauses have raised even more questions.
**Does LG TV “listen” to your conversations?**
LG’s updated terms and conditions state that their TVs use AI-based voice recognition services that can record the speech of people near the device. At the same time, the responsibility for complying with eavesdropping and privacy laws is effectively shifted to the TV owner.
In other words, the user must make sure that guests and relatives in their home are aware of the possibility of voice data being processed and that they consent to it. It was this clause that caused a lot of criticism: device owners perceived it as LG's attempt to shift responsibility onto users.
LG later commented on this situation, emphasizing that LG TVs do not collect, record or store conversations in the room, and that any functions with such a possibility are optional. However, this statement contradicts the document published by LG earlier, which stated that the company's TVs can collect, record and store conversations in the environment.
**This is not the first scandal involving LG**
LG has had privacy issues before. In particular, in 2013, the company was accused of spying on Smart TV owners. At that time, the TVs did not record conversations, but constantly collected information about the channels and programs that their owners watched. Following public outcry, LG has released a software update to address the issue.
Now, LG monitors are also being questioned. Users are reporting that some models are displaying McAfee antivirus ads every time the computer boots up. However, monitor owners have not allowed the download of additional software. In addition, this software has access to all system resources of the computer and collects information about the user's location, device configuration, network activity and accounts. Among the models mentioned in connection with this issue are the LG 34GX900A-B, 39GX950B and LG 32GS95UE-B.
If privacy is more important than voice functions, users can disable the microphone-related features themselves. To do this, open the TV's "Settings" section and disable the microphone and voice control functions.
The situation with computer monitors is more complicated. Users may be required to change Windows local group policy settings to disable the alleged adware and spyware.
Amid the scandal, LG owners are urging consumers to abandon the company's products and choose devices from competitors. Supporters of such an approach believe that a mass boycott could force the manufacturer to change its policies on privacy and installed software.