LG Electronics Inc. is a South Korean, Korea Exchange (KRX)-listed manufacturer of webOS smart TVs, ThinQ-connected home appliances, and other consumer electronics, and it operates an advertising business (LG Ad Solutions) alongside its hardware sales. LG's global Privacy Policy discloses that it obtains additional information about users from third-party marketing companies and data brokers, combines data collected via its Smart TV / Media Product service with data from its other services, uses third-party analytics tools (Google Analytics, Firebase) that track users' activity across websites and devices over time, and shares interaction and purchase data with 'social networks and other advertising partners' to measure and improve ad targeting. Apple's App Store privacy label for the official LG ThinQ app independently confirms Identifiers are used to track users across other companies' apps and websites, and that Location, Contact Info, User Content, Identifiers, Usage Data and Diagnostics are linked to user identity. LG Electronics Inc. is owned by the LG Group conglomerate and trades on the Korean Stock Exchange, giving it a traceable public-registry ownership chain. A 2013 incident, reported by the BBC/AP and independently verified by a security researcher, found LG Smart TVs transmitting viewing-channel data and USB-drive file names back to LG even when the relevant setting was switched off; LG stated it would issue and did prepare a firmware fix, and no subsequent FTC or state regulatory fine against LG specifically was found in this research (distinct from Vizio's unrelated 2017 FTC ACR settlement).
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Apple's App Store privacy label for the official LG ThinQ app (self-reported by developer LG Electronics, Inc.) discloses that Location, Contact Info, User Content, Identifiers, Usage Data and Diagnostics may be collected and linked to the user's identity — a broad set of data categories for an app whose core function is controlling connected home appliances.
LG's global Privacy Policy (which governs LG.com, LG Accounts and application-based services, and expressly cross-references LG's separate Smart TV / Media Product service policy) states that LGE collects information about users not only directly but also from third-party marketing companies and data brokers, in order to build interest profiles for more tailored services and advertising.
Wikidata's registry entry for LG Electronics records that the company trades on the Korean Stock Exchange under ticker symbol 066570 and is owned by the LG Group conglomerate — a traceable, exchange-linked ownership chain independent of the company's own marketing pages.
LG's global Privacy Policy states that LG shares personal information — including how users interact with LG's services, the ads they see, and the purchases they make — with 'social networks and other advertising partners' in order to measure ad effectiveness and deliver more relevant advertising.
A 2013 investigation, reported by the BBC and Associated Press after IT consultant Jason Huntley documented the behavior on his blog, found that LG Smart TVs collected viewing-channel data and the names of files on an attached USB hard drive and transmitted them to LG even when the TV's data-collection setting was switched off. LG confirmed the issue and said it was preparing a firmware update to stop the transmission once the feature was disabled; no FTC or state regulatory fine specifically against LG was identified in this research.
The LG ThinQ App Store privacy label independently confirms that 'Identifiers' data collected by the app may be used to track users across other companies' apps and websites — Apple's designated cross-context tracking category.
The same global Privacy Policy discloses that LG may collect information about users' activity on websites and connected devices 'over time and across third-party websites, devices, apps and other online features and services,' using third-party analytics services including Google Analytics and Firebase.