If you consider your TV a private safe haven, it might be time to think again. A UK blogger has discovered that LG’s smart TVs seem to collect personal data even when such functionality is explicitly forbidden by its user.
Doctor Beet noticed that his LG set was sending his private data, regardless of whether a software toggle called “Collection of watching info” was turned on or off. Looking at the logs from his router, he noticed that the TV was sending station metadata to an LG server. Perhaps worse, it was also sending the filenames of content on external USB storage plugged into the TV. (Amusingly demonstrated by a file called “Midget_Porn_2013.avi” .)
Engadget approached LG about the issue, which responded by saying that it was “looking into this now. We take these claims very seriously and are currently investigating the situation at numerous local levels since our Smart TVs differ in features and functions from one market to another. We work hard to get privacy right and have made this our top priority.”
Which is just as well. Especially if you watch a lot of midget porn. [Doctor Beet via Engadget]