LG smart TVs can record audio and track what you watch even when they look switched off, and LG's response so far is legal spin rather than a fix — bad news for anyone who owns one.

• Researchers pulled stored audio from an LG TV that appeared off and unplugged from the network, then retrieved it once it was reconnected.
• The TVs use "automatic content recognition" to snapshot everything on screen, including Netflix, YouTube, and game consoles, and build an ad profile covering your income, race, religion, and politics.
• The TV also maps other devices on your home Wi-Fi, letting drug advertisers follow you from a TV ad to your phone to the pharmacy counter.
• Consent is buried in ten separate agreements totaling 50,000 words, which would take a normal person three to four hours to read.
• LG has offered no patch and no rollback of its data collection, only legal language about "features" for consumers.

Outlook: Expect growing pressure on Congress for real privacy law and for changes to the 1998 copyright rule that stops owners from stripping tracking software off their own TVs.