Samsung accused of spying on users and then sharing data with 400+ partners

Samsung may be secretly spying on you by collecting insane amounts of data from built-in microphones, connected devices, and even AI you didn’t know about.

Reverse engineer Log4j started noticing that their Samsung 2025 TV was delivering “weirdly targeted ads,” something the user found unsettling.

Looking to get to the bottom of things, Log4j said they discovered that the tech giant designed its Smart TV to include features that allow the company to spy on its users.

Within the code, Log4j found a package called “always on voice,” which they describe as “always-on hot mic functionality” that uses the device’s built-in microphone to capture sounds from the user's environment.

“Sensor preferences, dog-barking and baby-crying event counters, and camera streaming duration are built into telemetry paths,” the engineer said.

Samsung TVs can exploit connected devices

If your Smart TV doesn’t have a microphone, you’re still not safe, as Samsung has a workaround.

The TVs will search for connected devices, like a soundbar or a Bluetooth-connected device, and use them to listen to you instead.

People on X pointed out that certain retailers in the UK offer a deal that includes a free Samsung soundbar.

After listening to your environment, the device then categorizes the audio and reports back to Samsung.

Samsung also collects “automatic content recognition, geolocation data, network mapping, a targeted ads service, 4 distinct DRM services, user profile building, and so much more juicy telemetry.”

AI-enabled user profiling

The company does this through AI, as the neural network tracks users' behavior based on the videos they watch and the ads they skip. This, along with all the other data, is then shared with Samsung and over 400 of its partners.

Log4j also discovered a backend remote management feature called “rmdemon,” in which Samsung support can remotely access your device for temporary diagnostics.

This feature, along with the other invasive mechanisms, was all found on a legitimate EU Samsung TV, according to Log4j.

Cybernews has reached out to Log4j for the full report and to Samsung for comment.

Hacker’s OpenAI account shut down after exposing Samsung

While live-tweeting the process, the hacker shared an email they’d received from OpenAI, which banned Log4j from using OpenAI, citing cyber abuse as grounds for account deactivation.

What’s strange is that the hacker claims they “never used OpenAI to exploit or find vulnerabilities” and only used its tools for reverse engineering work.

Other big AI companies, like Anthropic, have silently killed users’ ability to reverse-engineer anything (REA).

However, users speculate that this move may have been prompted by engineers using AI tools to reverse-engineer TVs.

Your Smart TV might be tracking you

Other companies, like LG, have also come under fire after engineers discovered microphones in their Smart TVs that listen in on users even when the TV is turned off.

There could be as many as 200 million spying LG TVs listening in on your conversations and collecting a range of data, from IP addresses to information on your neighbor's WiFi networks.

This led to LG OLED owners ripping apart their devices to manually remove the microphone found inside.

While LG denies spying on users, the US government has filed a lawsuit against major TV manufacturers for illegally processing consumer data, with LG among the alleged offenders.