LG on Wednesday denied that its TVs eavesdrop on customers after a gaming site appeared to show that the TVs can be used to listen to conversations in real time.
Also read: You’ve Heard About Smart Home Hacking: Here’s How It Works and How Likely It Is
“The claims made in the recently published video are not true,” an LG representative said in a statement to CNET. The company said LG TVs process voice data only when the voice button on the remote control is pressed and held or the TV’s “wake word” is uttered by the customer.
“Other than these instances, the TVs do not collect or record ambient conversations,” the statement said.
The company said that if the device doesn’t recognize the wake word, no voice data is transmitted to the server, and that the wake word is detected locally and immediately deleted.
Gaming site GamersNexus reported earlier this week that LG TVs can be hacked by a third party to become listening devices, even if a user disables the onboard microphone.
GamersNexus says it used a man-in-the-middle attack on an LG G5 TV to enable it to listen to audio from a remote computer, and says the TV was able to record audio without the TV being connected to the internet. In a man-in-the-middle attack, the hacker intercepts sensitive data by putting itself in between two other entities, such as a user and a web application.
The 2-hour video, compiled with the help of the Level1Techs site, says that hackers could listen to a USB webcam or an HDMI input even when the physical switch located next to the mic was switched off. It said this alleged vulnerability was possible due to the TV’s Automatic Content Recognition feature, which transmits viewing habits and voice requests back to LG.
“LG TVs are able to be utilized as eavesdropping listening devices, in part because of the advertising functionality that’s built into them. We were able to retrieve plain text transcripts of a voice conversation and inputs from the TV,” the video says.
The video also reports that the researchers were able to see a list of the IP addresses of all the other devices on the network, even if those devices weren’t connected to the TV.
“LG TVs feature the ability to scan for and connect to nearby devices on the same network. This is a standard function commonly provided by smart TVs and smart home devices,” an LG statement said.
The LG TV microphone, like many smart devices, is designed to listen for a wake word or phrase such as “Hi TV” and then perform the requested task.
Meanwhile, Apple says its new “always listening” Audio Intelligence feature doesn’t let the company access users’ raw audio.
Almost all TVs and streaming devices use automatic content recognition to target ads to customers based on viewing habits, but users can usually disable this feature in the device’s settings.
It’s worth noting that any smart speaker will record audio for a limited time after hearing its wake word. If you somehow disclose your Social Security number during that time, for instance, it will be recorded and transmitted.
Smart-home attacks are rare, but the researchers recommend removing LG TVs from your network to prevent unauthorized data collection and privacy breaches. Unprotected computers and routers, not televisions, are the most likely targets for hackers.
