LG privacy row should prompt marketers to rethink smart TV data, says Aden Hepburn

Aden Hepburn argues that the controversy over LG smart TVs should push marketers to weigh up both the potential of automatic content recognition (ACR) data and how far consumer consent really extends.

The debate follows an investigation by Gamers Nexus into LG televisions, which drew a strong reaction from people told that the biggest screen in their home might also be collecting information about them.

LG rejects the most serious allegation in the investigation, that its sets record ambient conversations, and says viewers must opt in to its ACR data collection. Hepburn says that whatever view people take of the story, it has opened an important discussion about privacy, consent and connected devices.

His concern is that the value of consented smart TV data in shaping wider campaigns could be lost in that discussion. He stresses that he means consumer intelligence shared knowingly and willingly, not information gathered by underhand means, and says that within legal and consented limits television can do much more than deliver a message to a mass audience.

TV as an outlier

Marketers can now build end-to-end brand experiences that connect mobile, social, gaming and retail with the physical world, with each interaction building on the last. Hepburn says TV is still often left out of these campaigns, partly because audience measurement has been slow to modernise.

Many marketers, he writes, still regard TV as good for broadcasting and little else. Yet it is one of the few media that households watch together, and smart TVs increasingly sit at the centre of home entertainment, linked to streaming services, games consoles, speakers and phones as part of the wider smart home.

ACR works something like Shazam for television, identifying what is on screen and converting those viewing signals into audience data. When used with permission and responsibly combined with other signals, Hepburn says, it can show marketers what programmes a household has watched, what subjects interest it, which ads it has already seen, and when and how it uses different entertainment platforms.

Three opportunities

Hepburn sets out three possibilities. The first is getting closer to answering whether exposure to a campaign actually changed behaviour.

The second is a more accurate view of reach and frequency across linear TV, streaming and digital channels, which could help brands find new audiences without showing the same household the same message repeatedly, bringing digital-style accountability to the largest screen in the home.

The third is making television part of a connected customer journey, in which an experience on mobile, social or another platform picks up from what a household has already seen on TV rather than starting afresh.

As an example, he suggests a family interested in travel, sport and anything starring Tom Holland could be a natural target for holiday firms or for offers to stream live Premier League matches. A more inventive idea would be a campaign promoting Sicily around The Odyssey, which was partly filmed on the island, with TV introducing the idea and other channels following up with detail on filming locations and itineraries.

Consent is not comprehension

Hepburn says none of this works without trust. The reaction to the LG investigation shows how personal the home is, and he argues marketers and technology firms must look beyond whether data collection complies with the wording of a privacy policy and think about how it feels to the viewer.

“Consent is not the same as comprehension,” he writes. Ticking a box in a rush while setting up a new television should not count as unlimited permission, he argues, especially as most buyers reasonably think they have bought hardware rather than signed up to an ongoing relationship with an audience platform.

He says the value exchange must be clear. Viewers might benefit from fewer irrelevant ads, better-managed frequency, useful recommendations and connected experiences that reward participation, backed by clear explanations, meaningful choices and real control.

“Get it right and audience intelligence can create value for everyone,” he writes. “Get it wrong and the smartest television in the world can quickly start feeling like the creepiest device in the house.”