How to Watch TV Without Letting the TV Watch You in 2026

The television is off. It does not feel like an active participant.

In September 2026, Gamers Nexus reported network scanning, viewing-data collection and audio capabilities that remain available offline. LG disputes that ambient recording is a normal feature.

The verdict: disconnecting a smart TV reduces its ability to report data, but does not make it dumb. Keep and harden a good TV for ordinary viewing. For a sensitive room, choose a display verified to have no microphone, camera, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

What the researchers actually demonstrated

Automatic content recognition, or ACR, fingerprints what a television shows. LG’s advertising arm says its ACR data covers programs, ads, games and streaming apps displayed “at the glass level.” Independent tests of LG and Samsung televisions found ACR operating over HDMI. Opting out stopped the ACR traffic in those tests.

The audio finding needs a careful reading. After gaining remote shell access to an LG G5, the researchers commanded it to record while its network cable was unplugged. The TV stored the audio, and they retrieved it after reconnecting. That proves a compromised television can work as an offline recorder. It does not establish that LG routinely activates or retrieves such recordings.

They also examined the normal voice system. It wrote speech to plaintext logs and could continue capturing nearby conversation for roughly 10 to 15 seconds after a voice command while speech continued. Some verbose logs survived a reboot but disappeared when power was physically removed. Other logs remained, and the researchers had not determined everything they contained.

LG says voice processing starts only after a remote-button press or enabled wake word, and that unmatched audio is deleted locally. It confirms local-network scanning for compatible devices.

The video raised another possibility: devices can sometimes join neighborhood hotspots such as public ISP networks. It did not demonstrate an LG television silently doing this. Treat that as an untested risk, not a finding.

An offline smart TV is lower risk, not inert

Start by declining optional viewing, advertising and voice agreements. On LG sets, look for Viewing Information, Live Plus, Interest-Based Advertising, Voice Information and Who.Where.What? Menus vary by model and region.

Disable hands-free voice control and use the physical microphone switch if present, although the researchers found it did not disable every possible audio input. Remove saved Wi-Fi networks, unplug Ethernet and block the TV at your router. Treat DNS filtering as backup.

Do not reconnect casually. Locally stored data may become accessible after connectivity returns, particularly if the television has been compromised. For a confidential meeting or conversation, switch it off at the outlet or move it out of the room. Standby is not the same as removing power.

Buy the absence of hardware, not a marketing label

A large computer monitor is the cleanest desk option. A commercial display can suit a living room, but “commercial” does not mean offline. Many include radios, microphones or cloud-management tools.

Check the exact model’s manual. Confirm it works over HDMI without an account and has no Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, camera, microphone or voice remote. Expect possible trade-offs in speakers, tuners, remotes and picture features. A used non-smart television is also sensible when its condition and energy use check out.

Choose the streaming layer separately

Apple TV 4K remains the simpler choice for commercial streaming apps and strong privacy controls. Apple explains how to disable tracking requests and analytics sharing. It is not anonymous, and each app has its own data practices.

For files you own or a Jellyfin library, my pick is the CanaKit Raspberry Pi 5 Essentials Starter Kit. It bundles the Pi, cooling, power supply, display cable and microSD card. Replace its preloaded Pi OS with the official Raspberry Pi 5 build of LibreELEC and it will boot directly into Kodi; local playback can then work without internet access.

This is not an Apple TV replacement. The Pi has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, so use Ethernet and disable wireless features for tighter separation. Check codec, HDR and app compatibility before buying. The privacy gain comes from controlling the software and network access, not from the Pi being private by default.

Who should skip a new display

If the TV sits in an ordinary living room and you accept the residual risk, hardening it creates less waste than replacement. If it shares a room with client calls, financial work or private conversations, unplugging the network is not the finish line. Choose hardware that has less capability to begin with.

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