Is Your Samsung TV Listening? What a Researcher Claims, and How to Turn Off TV Tracking

The short version: A security researcher says they cracked open their own 2025 Samsung TV and found it using on-device AI to collect a surprising amount of information for ads: what you watch, which ads you skip, screenshots of the screen and even labels for sounds in the room. The claims have not been independently confirmed yet, and Samsung hasn’t publicly responded in the reports we read. But the tracking settings it points to are real, and you can turn most of them off in about five minutes. Here’s what was claimed, what we actually know, and what to tap.

What the researcher says they found

The researcher goes by log4j on X. On October 21 they posted that they kept getting “weirdly targeted ads” on their 2025 Samsung TV. The TV’s software was locked with encryption, so they found their own security holes to get full control of it (hackers call this “rooting”). Then they live-posted what they say they found inside Tizen, the software Samsung TVs run on.

According to their posts, as reported by Tom’s Hardware, Notebookcheck and HDTVTest, the TV was:

Tracking viewing habits, such as which videos you watch, how far you get and which ads you skip.
Sorting sounds into categories, like a dog barking or a baby crying, rather than saving full recordings of what people say.
Taking screenshots and running them through computer vision, the kind of AI that recognizes what’s in a picture.
Tying it to an advertising ID that can follow you across devices, so the ads you see elsewhere can match what you watched.
Borrowing a microphone from a connected soundbar or Bluetooth gadget if the TV itself has none. This one is the claim that got the most attention, and it’s also one of the hardest to check.

The researcher’s summary was a joke: they “finally found a company that truly listens to its customers.” They say a full write-up is coming, but it hadn’t been published when we wrote this.

What we actually know so far

This is the part to read slowly. Everything above comes from one person’s posts. No other lab has repeated the full findings yet. A Hugging Face engineer named ngxson tried to test the microphone part on their own rooted Samsung TV. They saw the mic switch on for exactly five seconds, then stay off for hours. They also pointed out that their TV already had several settings turned off, so a regular TV fresh out of the box might act differently.

Some of these features also have a friendlier side. Samsung advertises sound-sensing features on its 2025 Vision AI TVs, called Pet Care and Family Care, that can alert your phone through the SmartThings app if, say, your dog keeps barking while you’re out. Hearing “dog barking” detected inside the TV doesn’t prove it’s being used for ads. What’s missing is a clear answer from Samsung about what gets collected, when, and where it goes.

One thing isn’t new at all: most smart TVs, from Samsung and other brands, use something called ACR (automatic content recognition). It quietly identifies what’s on your screen, even from cable or a game console, and uses that to target ads. Other TV makers, including LG, have faced similar spying complaints. That’s exactly the setting you can switch off below.

What this means for you

Don’t panic, but do take five minutes. The scariest claims are unproven. The basic ad tracking is real either way, and it’s easy to turn down.
Turn off “Viewing Information Services.” On most 2022 and newer Samsung TVs, go to Settings > All Settings > General & Privacy > Terms & Privacy and untick Viewing Information Services. That’s Samsung’s ACR. Menu names shift a little by model year, so look for “Privacy” if you don’t see it.
Turn off “Interest-Based Advertising” on the same screen. You’ll still see the same number of ads; they just won’t be built from your viewing.
Check your Samsung account too. If you sign in to a Samsung account, look in its privacy settings for an option about personalized ads using your account data and switch it off.
Recheck after updates. Privacy groups say big software updates can flip these back on. A quick look every few months is smart.
Think about what’s paired. If the soundbar claim worries you, you can unpair Bluetooth gadgets you don’t use, and turn off any hands-free “wake up” voice option in your TV’s voice settings.
Use it offline if you only watch through a streaming stick or cable box. A TV that isn’t connected to Wi-Fi can’t send data home. (The stick or box may have its own tracking settings, so check those as well.)

The bigger picture

TVs are cheap partly because ads and data pay part of the bill. AI makes that data far more detailed, because a TV that can “see” and “hear” can learn a lot about a home. We’ll update you if the researcher’s full report comes out or Samsung responds. In the meantime, the same “check your settings” habit helps everywhere: our 20-minute online security checkup covers your phone and accounts, and we explained how ChatGPT ads use your email and phone number for targeting.

Common questions

Is my Samsung TV listening to me?

Not proven. A security researcher claims 2025 Samsung TVs use on-device AI to label sounds in the room, like a dog barking, and to take screenshots for ad targeting. Those claims haven’t been independently confirmed, and one engineer who tested a modified TV saw the microphone turn on for only five seconds.

How do I stop my Samsung TV from tracking what I watch?

On most 2022 and newer Samsung TVs, go to Settings, All Settings, General and Privacy, then Terms and Privacy. Untick Viewing Information Services and Interest-Based Advertising. Menu names vary a little by model, and big software updates can reset them, so recheck now and then.

What is Viewing Information Services on a Samsung TV?

It’s Samsung’s name for automatic content recognition, or ACR. It identifies what is showing on your screen, including from cable boxes and game consoles, and that information can be used to recommend shows and target ads. You can turn it off in the TV’s privacy settings.

Will turning off ad tracking remove ads from my TV?

No. You’ll usually see the same number of ads on the home screen and in free channels. They just won’t be personalized based on what you watch.

Is it only Samsung TVs?

No. Most smart TV brands use some kind of viewing tracking for ads, and LG has faced similar complaints. The new AI claims are specific to Samsung’s 2025 TVs, but every smart TV owner should check their privacy settings.

Want gadgets that work for you, not the ad business?

We rounded up 27 unusual, well-reviewed gadgets that use AI to do something genuinely useful, explained in plain English.

See our Tech Picks