A self-hosted DNS filter can stop some of an LG TV’s outbound lookups from completing. It cannot tell you what the TV has already collected, and it cannot prove that collection has stopped. The title does not name the tool. For a home DNS filter of this kind, the most likely candidate is Pi-hole, so this article uses Pi-hole as the working assumption. That identification is an inference, not a confirmed detail of your setup.
What Pi-hole does on a smart TV
Pi-hole describes itself as “a DNS (Domain Name Service) sinkhole that protects your devices from unwanted content, without installing any client-side software” (Pi-hole project documentation). In practice, it answers DNS lookups from devices that use it as their resolver. When a device asks for a domain on one of Pi-hole’s block lists, the lookup is refused, so the device never reaches that server. Smart TVs are among the device types the project’s documentation lists as candidates for this kind of filtering.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsTwo limits follow from that design. The filter only sees and acts on lookups that actually reach it. It also works at the level of domain names, not the contents of the connections that follow.
Pi-hole is free and open-source. Its prerequisites page lists Raspberry Pi OS among supported operating systems and says requirements are modest. A Raspberry Pi is optional: the same page says it is not necessary if other compatible hardware is available.
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What LG says its TV collects
Three LG statements matter here. They come from LG Electronics’ corporate privacy statement, which LG published on September 12, 2026. Its global privacy policy page was last updated April 29, 2026.
Device discovery
LG says its smart TVs may recognize and communicate with compatible external devices to support connectivity features. The company states:
“The information identified through this device-discovery function is used to support connectivity-related features and is not used for household profiling, cross-device targeting, or advertising segmentation.” (LG Electronics, corporate privacy statement)
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LG also says nearby Wi-Fi access-point and signal-strength information is processed separately. Where automatic content recognition is available and enabled, that information may help estimate the TV’s approximate location for ACR services.
Automatic content recognition (ACR)
LG says its ACR service may process content-identification fingerprints together with device, content-source, network, and consent information. Users can disable ACR in the TV’s settings. LG also states that processing does not take place in third-party streaming apps such as Netflix or YouTube when they are accessed through LG Apps. Availability and settings vary by market and model, so check the labels on your own TV rather than relying on a general description.
How long the TV gets security updates
LG’s statement reads: “LG currently provides security updates for eligible TV products for up to five years from the initial release of the applicable webOS platform version, subject to product support policies and applicable requirements.” (LG Electronics, corporate privacy statement) Treat “up to five years” as a ceiling that depends on the webOS version and product eligibility, not a guarantee for every set.
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What independent reporting says, and where LG disagrees
Tom’s Guide, updated September 11, 2026, reports that an investigation by Gamers Nexus and Level1Techs described certain LG webOS TVs scanning the local network to identify connected devices. The same article quotes LG describing nearby-device discovery as a standard function, which matches the company’s own account above.
The reporting establishes the scanning behavior as described by its investigators. It does not establish that the discovered device information is used for household profiling. LG says it is not. No independent source reviewed for this article shows otherwise. Describing the TV as “spying” on you goes beyond what the evidence supports. The accurate description is narrower: LG documents data-processing features, investigators describe local discovery activity, and LG disputes the profiling interpretation.
Setting up the filter so the TV actually uses it
A DNS filter only helps if the TV sends its lookups to it. Pi-hole’s post-install documentation says to configure router DHCP so clients receive Pi-hole as their DNS server. Work through these steps in order:
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- Install Pi-hole on a host on your home network and confirm its web admin interface loads from another computer.
- Give the Pi-hole host a fixed IP address, either through a DHCP reservation in the router or a static address on the host.
- In the router’s DHCP settings, set the DNS server handed to clients to the Pi-hole’s IP address. Menu names differ by router manufacturer and firmware.
- If the router cannot hand out a custom DNS server, disable the router’s DHCP server and enable Pi-hole’s DHCP server instead. Pi-hole’s documentation describes this option.
- If neither option is available, set DNS manually on the TV. In the TV’s network settings, change the DNS setting from automatic to manual and enter the Pi-hole’s IP address. The exact menu names vary by webOS version.
- Reconnect the TV to the network or restart it so it requests a fresh lease or uses the new DNS setting.
- Open the Pi-hole query log and find the TV’s IP address or hostname. If its lookups appear there, the filter is in the path. If they do not, the TV is not using Pi-hole, and no blocking is happening.
Pi-hole’s documentation notes that the TV’s own behavior and your router’s capabilities may affect results. Whether a particular LG model ignores a configured DNS server was not established by the sources reviewed, so the query log check in step 7 is the only reliable test for your set.
What DNS blocking cannot do
- It does not show what was collected. A block list tells you which lookups were refused, not what data the TV has already sent or stored.
- It covers domain lookups, not every connection. Pi-hole’s documentation does not establish that it blocks every direct-IP connection or every network protocol.
- It is not designed for local discovery. The network scanning described in the reporting is local-network activity, not an internet domain lookup. A DNS blocker is not built to control it.
- It does not replace the TV’s own settings. If you want ACR off, turn it off in the TV’s settings. A block list will not do that for you.
Breakage to expect, and how to handle it
Blocking can break features you use. Three risks are documented:
- Clock drift. A community LG block list warns that blocking time synchronization can leave the TV’s clock wrong after a power loss. Symptom: the clock shows the wrong time after an outage. Fix: find the time-sync domain in the query log and allow only that domain.
- Failed downloads. The same community list warns that blocking can affect downloads that use strict TLS. Symptom: an app or update fails to download. Fix: check the query log for refused lookups at the time of failure, and allow only the domain involved.
- Broadcast-app features. A 2023 academic study of a prototype HbbTV blocker tested block rules and found functional tradeoffs. That work concerns smart TVs in general, not LG models specifically, and it does not establish a failure rate for any LG set.
Make one change at a time, test the feature that broke, and avoid importing large block lists you have not reviewed. Broad allowlists quietly undo the protection you installed the filter for.
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Home Assistant is a different tool
Readers often mix up Home Assistant with a DNS filter. Home Assistant’s privacy documentation says its data can remain on local hardware. Its LG webOS integration provides control, notifications, and switches for the TV, and it requires enabling LG Connect Apps on the set. It is not a DNS filtering feature. The two can run side by side, but neither replaces the other.
| Attribute | Pi-hole (DNS filtering) | Home Assistant LG webOS integration |
|---|---|---|
| Main function | Refuses lookups for domains on its block lists | Control, notifications, and switches for the TV |
| What it touches | Domain lookups from devices that use it as DNS | Communication with the TV through the integration; exact traffic not described in the sources reviewed |
| TV-side requirement | Router or TV DNS pointed at Pi-hole | LG Connect Apps enabled on the TV |
| Data location | Runs on hardware you host | Home Assistant states its data can remain on local hardware |
DNS filtering compared with router or firewall controls
If you are weighing Pi-hole against controls in your router, compare them on four axes. The sources reviewed establish the DNS side. They do not verify what any specific router can enforce, so the router column reflects what you must check on your own hardware.
| Axis | DNS filter (Pi-hole) | Router or firewall rules |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic layer controlled | Domain name lookups | Depends on the router; capability for your model not established here |
| Can the TV bypass it? | Yes, if the TV uses a DNS server other than Pi-hole; LG model behavior not established | Depends on whether rules apply to all devices; not established here |
| Management effort | One service, one DHCP or DNS change, and periodic log review | Varies by router firmware; not established here |
| Likely breakage | Possible for time sync and strict-TLS downloads, as described above | Not established by the sources reviewed |
A practical sequence for a cautious owner
Start by turning off ACR in the TV’s settings if you do not want it, since that step addresses a documented data feature directly. Then set up Pi-hole, confirm the TV appears in the query log, and watch the log for a few days of normal use. Allow only the specific domains a feature needs, and keep a record of every change so you can reverse it.
The Bottom Line
Pi-hole on the TV’s DNS path is a reasonable, reversible layer. It can refuse some lookups and show you what the TV tries to reach. It does not reveal what has already been collected, it does not isolate the TV from your network, and it does not make the TV private. Pair it with the TV’s own settings, and treat the query log as the test of whether the setup works on your model.
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