LG sells you a Gram 17 as a privacy-respecting laptop. This is the same LG that takes screenshots of your smart TV every 15 seconds and sells the data to advertisers through a company called Alphonso. A peer-reviewed study confirmed it. Texas AG Ken Paxton sued LG in December 2025 for misrepresenting data practices. When a company's TV division is in court for surveillance, trusting their laptop division requires a leap of faith. LG says you can opt out. On their smart TVs, "opting out" requires 27 clicks across four separate toggles buried in nested menus. Twenty-seven clicks to say no. LG designed a system where giving up privacy is the default and protecting it is an obstacle course. When a company builds 27-click opt-outs into one product line, ask what the opt-out looks like in their laptops — if one exists at all.
What they claim: LG markets the Gram as a privacy-respecting productivity laptop.
What we found: LG's TV division takes screenshots every 15 seconds via ACR using Alphonso advertising technology. A peer-reviewed study at ACM IMC 2024 confirmed this. Texas AG Ken Paxton sued LG in December 2025 for misrepresenting data collection.
What they claim: LG Gram comes with a clean Windows experience with minimal pre-installed software.
What we found: LG still pre-installs Update+, Control Center, and Smart Assistant running background services and sending telemetry. LG's broader ecosystem demonstrates using utility software as data collection vectors across TVs, fridges, and washers.