LG smart TVs continuously sweep home networks, map secondary devices, and log microphone audio while appearing to be turned off, according to a new 135-minute-long video published by Gamers Nexus. Network packet captures taken through Wireshark showed the TVs actively scanning the local area network for unrelated hardware, including phones and smartwatches. Apart from internal IP addresses, the sets also gathered the names and signal strengths of neighboring Wi-Fi networks along with location data. This data collection pool is fed into LG Ad Solutions (the company’s targeted advertising arm). LG claims they have roughly 216 million smart TV sales globally. On the other hand, the ad division says it has access to 363 million secondary addressable devices in the US alone by tracking other hardware on the same network. The sets also run Automated Content Recognition (ACR), which samples on-screen audio and video into digital fingerprints to log what users watch across inputs. During bench tests, researchers found the TV could capture clean microphone audio while the screen was (or at least looked to be) powered down in standby mode. When the team disconnected the TV from Ethernet, the set continued saving voice input locally and uploaded the stored files once network access was restored. The researchers also documented remote code execution vulnerabilities in webOS that are currently moving through the responsible disclosure process. Because of the fact that the TV uses broad network listeners and data sweeps out of the box, the team's recommendation was straight-up disconnecting LG sets from the internet and using external streaming devices instead. LG has not commented on any of this as of writing.