LG TV

Smart TV Reviewed October 2026

These are reasonable defaults - not the only right choices. If your current settings work for you, there is no pressure to change anything.

What the default settings do

LG’s webOS TVs can do three things that matter for privacy. They can identify what is on screen (LG calls this Live Plus, a form of automatic content recognition, or ACR). They can listen for a “Hi LG” wake word, including while the TV is in standby. And they can show ads based on what you watch. LG says all three are off until you agree to them. The catch is that first-time setup offers an “Agree to all” button, and many people press it to get to the TV faster. Firmware updates have also added new agreements to TVs that were set up years earlier.

During setup, LG asks you to accept a list of separate agreements: Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Viewing Information (ACR), Voice Information, Interest-Based and Cross-Device Advertising, and Marketing Communications. You can review and withdraw each one later without a factory reset. That is more granular than most TV platforms, but it also means more screens to check.

What changed in September 2026

On 6 September 2026, Gamers Nexus published a long investigation with Level1Techs and independent researchers, based mainly on a 2025 LG G5 OLED (webOS 25). LG answered with a statement on 12 September. The two sides agree on some points and dispute others:

Confirmed by LG: the TV scans your home network and lists other devices on it (phones, PCs, smart home gear), even ones it is not paired with. LG calls this a standard connectivity function and says it is not used for advertising. There is no setting to turn it off.
Confirmed by LG: the TV collects nearby Wi-Fi network names and signal strengths to estimate location for ACR. LG says this only happens if you accepted Viewing Information. Gamers Nexus says it saw location data sent to LG Ad Solutions over HDMI; LG has not addressed that packet capture.
Disputed: Gamers Nexus showed microphone audio captured while the screen looked off, and voice transcripts kept on the TV. LG says standby listening only happens if Hands-free Voice Control is turned on, only checks for the wake word on the TV itself, and deletes anything that is not the wake word without sending it.
Only on a hacked TV: researchers showed that security flaws in webOS network services could let an attacker take over the TV, record audio and upload it later. LG has been notified. As of early October 2026, no CVE numbers or fixed firmware versions have been published.

LG has also settled a Texas lawsuit over ACR (May 2026). The settlement requires clear opt-in consent and a clear way to opt out in Texas. A law firm is investigating a possible class action, but none had been filed by early October.

What this means in practice: the settings below switch off everything LG says is optional. They do not stop the network scanning, and they cannot fix the unpatched security flaws. For those, see Network below.

A reasonable privacy baseline

These settings are in Settings → All Settings on the TV. Paths below follow LG’s webOS 24 manual and apply to most 2022 and newer sets. LG notes that menus differ by model, so if an item is not where we say, use the search icon in All Settings.

Voice and standby listening

General → AI Service → Voice Recognition Settings → Use Hands-free Voice Control → Off

This is the "Hi LG" wake word. With it off, the TV does not listen for a wake word while on or in standby. You can still use voice by holding the microphone button on the remote. Doing so sends what you say to LG's servers for that one command only.

General → Always Ready → Off

Always Ready keeps parts of the TV running when the screen is off, so it can show a clock or artwork and respond to voice. LG's manual says standby voice control needs Always Ready, so turning it off closes the standby listening path that LG documents.

Microphone switch on the TV itself → Off (models with a built-in far-field mic)

TVs that support hands-free voice have a small physical switch, usually under the bottom edge near the power button. Switching it off disables the built-in microphone. The microphone in the remote is separate and only works while you hold its button.

Live Plus and viewing information (ACR)

General → System → Additional Settings → Live Plus → Off

Live Plus is LG's content recognition. LG says it identifies what is playing from an audio fingerprint, does not take screenshots or recordings, and does not run inside apps such as Netflix or YouTube. It does run on what comes in over HDMI and antenna, including consoles and cable boxes. On TVs from before 2022 the toggle can be under General → Additional Settings.

Support → Privacy & Terms → User Agreements → Withdraw Viewing Information, Voice Information and Interest-Based Advertising

Withdrawing the agreements is separate from the toggles above, so do both. The agreements are LG's permission to use the data. Also look for anything added after setup: firmware updates in 2026 added new consent items to some older sets.

Advertising

Support → Privacy & Terms → Advertisement → Limit AD Tracking → On, then Reset AD ID

Stops the advertising ID from being used to target you, and resetting it breaks the link to any profile built so far.

General → System → Additional Settings → Home Settings → Home Promotion and Content Recommendation → Off

Removes most promoted tiles from the home screen. If your TV shows ads as a screen saver, turn off Screen Saver Promotion in the same Additional Settings area.

Delete what LG already holds

Support → Privacy & Terms → Delete My Personal Information → Delete Viewing Information and Delete Voice Information

Asks LG to delete the viewing and voice data it has stored for this TV. Do this after you turn the features off, otherwise new data starts building up again.

Network and standby

General → System → Additional Settings → Quick Start+ → Off

Quick Start+ keeps the TV connected in standby so it turns on faster. In testing by AdGuard, a TV that had not been switched on still made thousands of network requests in under 12 hours. Turning this off means the TV is properly off when it is off. On some older models it is under General → Devices → TV Management.

General → External Devices → TV On With Mobile → Turn on via Wi-Fi and Turn on via Bluetooth → Off

Stops phones on your network from waking the TV, which also means one fewer network service listening while it is in standby.

Support → Software Update → Auto Update → On

The security flaws reported in September 2026 will only be fixed by firmware. LG says it supports each webOS version with security updates for up to five years from release, so older TVs may stop receiving fixes.

If you want to go further

None of the settings above stop the network scanning LG confirmed. If that bothers you, these options do, in order of effort:

Keep the TV offline and plug in a streaming stick or box. In General → Network, forget the Wi-Fi network and unplug the Ethernet cable, then use an Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV or Roku over HDMI. The TV can no longer send anything. The trade-off is that it will not get firmware updates, so reconnect once in a while to update, and turn off Live Plus before you do. A streaming box has its own privacy settings, so see our Roku and Fire TV guides.
Put the TV on a guest or “IoT” network. Most home routers can create a guest Wi-Fi network that is isolated from your other devices. On it, the TV cannot see your phones and computers, which limits what scanning finds and what an attacker could reach.
Block LG’s ad and ACR servers with a DNS filter such as NextDNS, AdGuard DNS or a Pi-hole. Researchers have published lists; the ad and ACR domains include lgsmartad.com, lgads.tv and alphonso.tv. Do not block every lge.com address, because firmware updates and the app store use some of them. This reduces what leaves your home, but it is not guaranteed: TVs can fall back to other routes.

Trade-offs

With Hands-free Voice Control and Always Ready off, you lose “Hi LG” and the ambient screen in standby. Voice search still works by holding the remote’s microphone button.
Turning off Live Plus and withdrawing Viewing Information removes LG’s “because you watched” recommendations.
Limiting ad tracking does not reduce how many ads you see, only how targeted they are.
With Quick Start+ off, the TV takes a few seconds longer to turn on.
Keeping the TV offline means no built-in apps and no automatic security updates, which matters more as the TV ages.
A DNS filter can break some apps or the home screen if it blocks too much. Start with the ad and ACR domains only.

Who should not change these settings

If you use “Hi LG” daily, especially for accessibility, keep Hands-free Voice Control on and turn off Live Plus and ad tracking instead. LG says audio that is not the wake word stays on the TV.
If you like the home screen recommendations, Live Plus and Content Recommendation are part of what powers them.
If nobody in your home will remember to update the TV manually, do not take it offline permanently. An online TV with current firmware is safer than an offline one that never gets patched and is reconnected years later.
If you are setting the TV up for someone else, go through the agreements one by one instead of pressing “Agree to all”. That first choice is the one most likely to stick.

Not sure whether your TV is listening? See Is my LG TV listening to me? for the short version.