Researcher says Samsung TVs may listen through soundbars

A reverse engineer going by the handle log4j has claimed that a 2025 Samsung smart TV was gathering audio without the owner’s explicit consent by exploiting a package described as “always on voice.” In a public thread, log4j said the software logs events such as dogs barking and babies crying, counts these events, and reports them back to Samsung.

Samsung markets on-device AI features for pets and people, but the company says those features detect a dog barking or a baby crying and alert users; log4j’s specific package and data reported are not independently verified by Samsung.

Log4j further asserted that on TVs lacking built-in microphones, the software purportedly searches for connected devices like soundbars or Bluetooth microphones and uses those to listen instead. The researcher also claimed the TV collects geolocation data and maps local networks, running a local-network traffic analysis service.

The claim includes a neural network purportedly tailored to a viewer’s region to infer viewing habits, such as on YouTube where it allegedly identifies videos watched, ads skipped, and progression. While log4j’s assertions are not independently verified, the article notes Samsung has used automatic content recognition (ACR) in the past.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton settled with Samsung over ACR data collection and consent, and a New York class action and a separate California complaint have challenged Samsung’s transparency around ACR data. The piece notes that turning off ACR, internet-based advertising, and voice features may be possible, and disconnecting from Wi‑Fi is proposed by log4j, albeit with trade-offs.