Telemetry and Tracking in Tizen OS

Reverse engineer and cybersecurity bounty hunter log4j recently found they were getting weirdly targeted ads on their Samsung TV and discovered privacy breaches. As they live-tweeted their discoveries, they found increasingly concerning code in the Tizen operating system, including detailed user telemetry from packet logging, audio categorization, screenshots, cross-device identification for ad tracking, and more, all designed to extract as much user information as possible to improve targeted ads.

log4j posted on X that they were concerned with how specific the ads on their 2025 Samsung TV were. They decided to reverse-engineer the Tizen OS on their TV to see what it was doing, discovering significant privacy issues, according to the researcher's subsequent posts.

i own a relatively new (2025) samsung tv. i kept getting weirdly targeted ads. i tried reversing the firmware but it was aes encrypted and no keys unless tear it apart and do uart/jtag magic. zero days it is. root shell on new samsung TVs! discovered PRIVACY HORROR. write up? https://t.co/EsxxCy1b6aOctober 21, 2026

AI Models and Audio Recording

The tester theorizes that Samsung TVs are sluggish because they handle extensive post-processing of user data, including audio, screenshots, and AID (a cross-device tracking ID for ads), plus computer vision processing and models running on the television. The hacker found a region-specific convolutional neural network tracking user behavior, citing examples like watched videos, skipped ads, and video progress. Log4j also found behavior for TVs without built-in microphones, stating it will find connected devices with microphones, such as a soundbar or a connected Bluetooth device, to record audio.

Hugging Face engineer ngxson commented that they would test the microphone behavior using their Flipper Zero and found that the TV opened the microphone for five seconds, then stopped. ngxson waited for another microphone response but found none hours later. However, ngxson explained that their Tizen TV was already rooted and had multiple settings disabled, so an unmodified TV may behave differently.

OpenAI Ban and Industry Context

The hacker used OpenAI tools during their investigation, but the company eventually banned them for cyber abuse, as stated in an email they received. log4j defended themselves, saying they never used OpenAI's tools to exploit or find vulnerabilities, only for local reverse engineering, and that they did not breach terms of use. In a comment below their post about the ban, log4j said it seemed OpenAI banned their account because of a primitive classifier.

@log4j Ok so right off the bat, it opens the mic for exactly 5 seconds then stop. Seems like a strange way to test mic (?) Then no more recording since then, but need to keep observing more to conclude https://t.co/PSHIfMG2oOOctober 23, 2026

Samsung TVs and Tizen are not the only systems scrutinized regarding user privacy, as other brands like LG have also faced questions. Many owners have reported their TVs slowing down despite no new features or heavy apps running, suspecting bloatware or potentially similar background data collection. The hacker is working on a comprehensive write-up of their findings.

At the end of the post series, they jokingly say they “finally found a company that truly listens to its customers.”