Samsung Smart TVs Allegedly Use Connected Device Mics for Audio Collection, Researcher Claims Data Sent to Servers

Security researcher log4j has published reverse-engineering results on social platform X, alleging undisclosed audio collection practices by Samsung Smart TVs. The researcher stated that after receiving unusually precise push ads, they examined the data flow and found system event records containing counts related to "dog barking" and "baby crying," along with detailed fields for camera streaming duration and ambient light sensors. This data is ultimately transmitted back to Samsung servers in key-value format.

A key point of contention involves hardware boundaries: for models without built-in microphones, the TV actively scans for available microphone devices in the vicinity (such as Soundbars or Bluetooth speakers) before deciding whether to enable related functions. This means users may mistakenly believe that lacking a built-in mic equates to no eavesdropping risk, but audio processing actually occurs via peripheral devices.

Samsung's Vision AI series TVs from 2025 offer Pet Care and Family Care services, which originally advertised using microphones and on-device AI to detect specific sounds and send alerts via the SmartThings app. However, researchers question whether Samsung clearly informed consumers that these event counts and associated data would be synchronized back to its own servers. These findings have not yet been independently verified by third-party security firms, and Samsung has not responded to the allegations.