TV maker LG looking into complaints of unauthorized 'spying'

South Korea's LG says it is investigating allegations some of its TVs send details about owners' viewing habits back to the manufacturer. A British IT consultant was the first to report the situation, saying his LG Smart TV was recording and reporting the data even after he had activated a privacy setting. When Jason Huntley contacted the South Korean company he was told that by using the TV he had accepted LG's terms and conditions, but the company told the BBC it was looking into the complaint. "Customer privacy is a top priority at LG Electronics and as such, we take this issue very seriously," a spokesman told the BBC. "LG offers many unique Smart TV models which differ in features and functions from one market to another, so we ask for your patience and understanding as we look into this matter," the spokesman said. Huntley said he discovered that even after an option on his LG Smart TV called "collection of watching info" had been switched off, information was still being sent to LG's servers. "I can't prove that this was being actively logged by LG, but nevertheless it was being transmitted in the clear across the Internet's backbone to wherever the servers are located," he said.