Your smart TV knows what you watch. A security researcher now claims some Samsung TVs may also be keeping count of something else: how often your dog barks or your baby cries in the room.
Since October 21, a reverse engineer who posts on X as “log4j” has been sharing findings from inside the software of a 2025 Samsung TV running Tizen. The researcher claims the set processes and categorises audio, takes screenshots for on-device analysis, tracks viewing habits, and may even use a connected soundbar’s microphone on models that lack one. Tech sites including Tom’s Hardware and Notebookcheck have reported the claims. Samsung had not publicly responded as of October 26, and the findings have not been independently confirmed in full.
Quick Facts
- Who: A researcher known online as “log4j”, describing themselves as a reverse engineer and bug bounty hunter
- What: Claims that a 2025 Samsung smart TV collects audio categories, screenshots and detailed viewing data, partly for ad tracking
- When: Posts began on October 21, 2026; a full write-up has been promised but not yet published
- Where: Findings shared on X, reported by Tom’s Hardware, Notebookcheck and others
- Samsung’s response: No public comment so far
What the Researcher Says Samsung TVs Are Doing
According to the posts, the TV’s firmware was encrypted, so the researcher says they had to open the hardware and use low-level debugging methods to get inside. Once in, they claim to have found code linked to several kinds of data collection.
Here is what the researcher alleges, as reported by Tom’s Hardware and Notebookcheck:
- Detailed telemetry sent back to Samsung’s cloud servers as key-value data
- Audio processing that sorts sounds into categories
- Screenshots and computer-vision models running on the TV itself
- A region-specific neural network that tracks what you watch in apps like YouTube, including which ads you skip
- A cross-device advertising ID used to follow viewers for ads
The researcher says they started digging because the TV was showing what they called oddly targeted ads.
The Dog Barking and Baby Crying Counters
The most talked-about detail is a telemetry event that Notebookcheck says is labelled as a sound sensor event. It reportedly includes counters for dog barking and baby crying, plus fields for camera state, camera streaming time and the ambient light sensor.
This is not entirely out of nowhere. Samsung sells AI TVs with features like Pet Care and Family Care, which use on-device AI to detect barking or crying and send an alert to your phone through the SmartThings app. Think of a pet parent at the office getting a ping that the dog has been barking for ten minutes.
The question is what happens to that data next. Notebookcheck points out that Samsung has not said publicly that counts of these events are reported back to the company. It also notes the counters alone do not prove an alert was ever shown to a user, and the full journey of the data has not been traced.
Can a Samsung TV Use Your Soundbar’s Microphone?
Another claim has caught attention: that Samsung TVs without a built-in mic may look for a connected device that has one, such as a soundbar or a Bluetooth gadget, and use it for audio.
This part is the least clear. Notebookcheck called it hard to follow and did not confirm it. No outlet has shown independent proof that this happens on a regular, unmodified TV.
One early outside check came from Hugging Face engineer ngxson, who used a Flipper Zero to watch a Tizen TV. They saw the TV open its microphone for about five seconds and then stop, with no further recording seen hours later. But ngxson said their TV was already rooted with several settings turned off, so a stock TV could behave differently.
Why the Samsung TV Privacy Claims Matter
Smart TVs are often sold cheaply because the makers earn money from ads and viewing data after the sale. That data usually comes from automatic content recognition, or ACR, which identifies what is on your screen.
Samsung has faced questions on this before. Earlier in 2026, it reached an agreement with the Texas Attorney General to stop collecting or processing ACR viewing data from Texas users without their express consent, and to add clearer consent screens. Texas had also sued other TV makers, including LG, Sony, Hisense and TCL. Samsung has said its earlier practices complied with Texas law.
LG has faced similar accusations too. In September, a Gamers Nexus investigation reported that LG TVs mapped devices on home networks and captured mic audio in standby. LG has denied spying claims.
For Indian homes, where Samsung is one of the biggest TV brands and a single TV often sits in a shared family room, the idea of a set quietly logging household sounds will understandably make people uneasy.
What We Don’t Know Yet
- Whether any raw audio or screenshots actually leave the TV, or only summary data
- Which Samsung models and countries are affected, including India
- Whether the soundbar microphone claim holds up on a normal TV
- What Samsung says about the findings
- When the researcher’s promised full technical write-up will be published
What This Means for You: Privacy Settings to Check
Nothing here is proven yet, but checking your TV’s privacy settings is a good habit anyway. Menu names vary by model and region, so look for these:
- Physical mic switch: Many recent Samsung TVs have a small slider on the bottom edge that turns the microphone off. An on-screen message confirms the state.
- Voice Wake-up: Under the Voice settings, switch off always-listening wake words if you don’t use them.
- Viewing Information Services: This is Samsung’s ACR setting, usually found under Terms & Privacy or Privacy Choices. Turn it off to limit viewing data collection.
- Interest-Based Ads: Switching this off stops ad personalisation. You will still see ads.
- SmartThings: Check the app for Pet Care or similar sound alerts and turn off what you don’t need.
The trade-off: with the mic off, voice commands stop working, though the remote and apps work as usual.
Our Take
These are claims from one researcher, backed so far by posts and screenshots rather than a published report, so a healthy dose of caution is fair. But they land on a real sore point. If a TV counts barks and cries for a feature you can switch on, buyers deserve a plain answer on whether that data stays home. A clear statement from Samsung would settle a lot of nerves.
FAQs
Is my Samsung TV listening to me?
A researcher claims some 2025 Samsung TVs process and categorise audio, but this has not been independently confirmed and Samsung has not commented yet.
How do I turn off the microphone on a Samsung TV?
Many models have a physical mic slider on the bottom edge of the TV. You can also switch off Voice Wake-up in the Voice settings.
What is Viewing Information Services on Samsung TVs?
It is Samsung’s automatic content recognition setting, which identifies what you watch. You can turn it off in the privacy menu.
Can a Samsung TV use a soundbar microphone?
The researcher claims so, but outlets reporting it have not confirmed this, and no independent test has shown it on a standard TV.
For background on the earlier data case, see the Texas Attorney General’s announcement and Notebookcheck’s report on the sound sensor findings.
Based on reporting by Tom’s Hardware, Notebookcheck, Pasquale Pillitteri and BleepingComputer.
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