Researcher Claims 2025 Samsung TVs Capture Screens and Audio
Security researcher log4j says Tizen code on his 2025 Samsung TV contains components that collect audio, screenshots and tracking data. The claims rest on his own posts.
Merhabyte Newsdesk · · 3 min read
Reverse engineer and bug bounty hunter log4j noticed something odd on his relatively new 2025 Samsung television: the ads on screen were unusually well targeted. To find out why, he decided to dig into the TV's software, and the findings he has been sharing step by step on X have quickly sparked debate.
According to the researcher, code in the Tizen operating system carries signs of a highly detailed data collection scheme. The data allegedly includes network packet logs, audio classification, screenshots and a cross-device identifier used for ad tracking. The findings rest on the researcher's own posts, and the only independent test of the microphone's behavior so far has not reached a firm conclusion.
An ad-targeting hunch that led to a teardown
log4j says his first step was to examine the TV's firmware directly. It turned out to be encrypted with AES, and he had no access to the keys; getting at it would have meant opening the device and resorting to methods such as UART or JTAG. Instead, he turned to zero-day vulnerabilities and says he obtained a root shell on newer Samsung TVs. With that access he could see what was running inside the system, and he says he found what he calls a privacy horror show.
The researcher's theory is that one reason these devices feel sluggish may be heavy on-device processing of user data. Audio, screenshots and an ad-oriented cross-device tracking identifier known as the AID are reportedly part of that processing. The TV is also said to include computer vision processing and models that run on the device.
A region-specific neural network that watches behavior
log4j says he found a region-specific convolutional neural network in the code. In his account, the model tracks user behavior such as which videos are watched, which ads are skipped and how much of each video is viewed. The whole mechanism is alleged to be designed to collect as much user information as possible in order to improve targeted advertising.
One claim concerns models without a microphone. According to the researcher, these TVs can find nearby hardware, such as a soundbar with a built-in mic or a connected Bluetooth device, and use it to capture audio. In other words, the allegation is that the absence of a microphone on the TV does not mean no audio is recorded.
An independent mic test and an OpenAI account ban
Hugging Face engineer ngxson wrote that he tested the microphone behavior with his own Flipper Zero. By his observation, the TV switched the microphone on for five seconds and then off, and no new recording attempt appeared even hours later. He stressed, however, that his own Tizen TV was already rooted and had many settings disabled, and that an unmodified device might behave differently.
log4j says he used OpenAI tools in the work, but the company eventually banned his account for cyber abuse and notified him by email. He says he used the tools only for local reverse engineering, not to find or exploit vulnerabilities, and that he did not violate the terms of use. He suspects the ban may have been triggered by a simple classifier.
Similar suspicions across the industry, and what comes next
Privacy concerns are not limited to Samsung and Tizen. Other brands, such as LG, have also faced accusations of monitoring their customers. Many users report that their TVs have slowed down even though no new features were added and no heavy apps are running. Bloatware is usually blamed, but the behavior log4j found could be a factor as well.
The researcher announced that he is working on a comprehensive write-up that, beyond the findings, will explain how others can reproduce them. He closed his thread with a joke, saying he had finally found a company that actually listens to its customers.
