We’ve all grown accustomed to the unsettling feeling that our smart home devices are listening in on us. From LG TVs harvesting telemetry data while powered down to smartphones tracking our every move, “data collection” has become a euphemism for digital surveillance. Now, new findings suggest Samsung Smart TVs might be taking this a step further by leveraging your other connected peripherals.
According to security researcher @log4j, who recently dissected the underlying software of Samsung’s TV ecosystem, these displays may be doing more than just playing 4K content. The research indicates that Samsung TVs might be capable of connecting to external Bluetooth devices and soundbars to hijack their built-in microphones. Essentially, if your TV doesn’t have a mic of its own, it could potentially “borrow” one from a nearby accessory to gather audio data.
While the researcher hasn’t provided a live demonstration of this happening in real-time, the discovery raises a massive red flag regarding user consent. It remains unclear whether this process happens silently in the background or if users are ever explicitly asked for permission.
This isn’t the only discovery from the deep dive. It appears that Samsung’s “Pet Care” and “Family Care” services utilize AI to detect specific acoustic patterns—such as a baby crying—to trigger alerts. While Samsung markets this as a helpful feature, the infrastructure required to make it work means the TV is constantly analyzing the sounds in your living room.
For those hoping to opt out, there’s a catch. The researcher noted that disabling Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) in the settings menu doesn’t seem to fully kill the telemetry or data monitoring processes.
As the line between “smart features” and “spyware” continues to blur, this discovery serves as a reminder that the convenience of a connected home often comes at the cost of our privacy. If you’re uncomfortable with your soundbar acting as a remote ear for your TV, it might be time to audit your device permissions.
