In the quiet of living rooms around the world, a familiar appliance has been revealed to be something far less passive than it appears. Security researchers have found that LG Smart TVs continue to listen to household conversations and map connected devices on home networks even while powered down or in standby — activities that occur without user knowledge or consent. The discovery places a long-trusted category of consumer technology at the center of a deepening tension between convenience and the ancient human expectation of privacy within one's own home.