Samsung’s new TV will ‘allow parents to spy on their children’

Privacy groups have raised the alarm over a new television set powered by artificial intelligence that ‘spies’ on children.

Samsung unveiled on Monday its new Neo QLED TV range that will ‘go beyond conventional TV watching’.

‘Vision AI’ will ‘keep a watchful eye on loved ones, detecting unusual behaviour in both pets and family members’.

Samsung said: ‘It enhances comfort by automatically adjusting room settings, like dimming the lights when a child falls asleep, while providing real-time updates and recorded events through TVs.’

The South Korean giant’s AI program links to smart home devices to do this, like robot vacuum cleaners, lightbulbs and speakers.

By connecting to a home’s security system or doorbell cameras, for example, the TV will alert residents to suspicious activity like burglaries.

A Samsung spokesperson told Metro: ‘Vision AI works to support customers in keeping their home and loved ones safe.

‘When your pet barks or your baby is crying, AI analyses that sound and sends you notifications through your TV, monitor, and mobile device at a glance to promptly check the current situation at home.’

The smart TV set also offers ‘instant information’ about what’s on-screen, such as looking up recipes shown on cooking shows and sending that information to a smart fridge.

By linking to Samsung’s ‘Family Care’ smartphone service for caregivers, the screen will send notifications to users about older relatives, such as if they have got up that morning or gone to a medical appointment.

The Neo QLED 8K QN990F was announced as part of Samsung’s ‘bold new vision for the future’ at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

But this is a future that privacy experts are wary of, they told Metro.

‘People buy a TV to watch programmes, but it turns out the TV is also watching us,’ said James Baker, a platform power programme manager at Open Rights Group, the largest grassroots digital rights group in the UK.

‘Not content with selling data on viewing habits, it appears manufacturers increasingly want to stick AI-empowered surveillance into their products.’

Emory Roane, the associate director of policy for the non-profit Privacy Rights ClearningHouse, said she is ‘worried’ about smart TV sets.

‘These TVs are allowing parents to spy on kids,’ she said.

‘Surveillance of children and family remains a significant privacy concern, and we should be wary of introducing these services into our homes merely for convenience.

‘Privacy isn’t only about safeguarding against third-party advertisers; it also involves protecting the privacy within our own households.

‘The data collected by smart devices is also often exploited in abusive relationships, whether it’s parents exerting control over children or abusive partners, ex-partners, or stalkers.’

TV giants have increasingly embraced AI in the years since chatbots like ChatGPT came onto the scene.

Samsung is among them. Mainly known for high-resolution TVs and phones, it is also one of the top microchip makers – the brains of AI.

‘Samsung sees TVs not as one-directional devices for passive consumption but as interactive, intelligent partners that adapt to your needs,’ SW Yong, president of Samsung Electronics, told CES.

AI systems rely on data to train their algorithms, such as collecting and storing user queries and responses and analysing behaviour patterns.

But around a third of Britons worry that this data is being used for ‘surveillance purposes’, according to the government’s AI: Tracker survey.

‘As more of our household devices get connected and “smart,” from our televisions and speakers to lightbulbs and refrigerators – every single one is collecting information about us and, potentially and often, sharing it with third parties,’ Roane added.

She cited a report by the Center for Digital Democracy that found smart TVs, also called connected televisions, or CTV, utilise viewer data to deploy targeted advertisements.

‘As CDD noted, that data winds up alongside the rest of our digital breadcrumbs hoovered into the surveillance advertising industry to serve personalised ads,’ Roane said.

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