Samsung removing smart TV apps that secretly turn users into proxy nodes
Samsung has begun blocking and removing smart TV apps that embed residential proxy software, code that routes outside web traffic through a user’s home internet connection without making the trade-off clear. The move follows research from Norwegian cybersecurity firm Mnemonic showing that several Samsung TV apps, including a Pac-Man title previously featured in the platform’s “Editor’s Choice” section, contained proxy components tied to commercial proxy operators. Some of the apps identified in the research claim hundreds of millions of installs.
What Samsung is doing
A Samsung spokesperson confirmed the policy shift. “We have already restricted new app registrations that incorporate such proxy functionalities on our Smart TV platform,” the spokesperson said. “We are currently implementing strict platform-wide developer policies explicitly banning residential proxy SDKs, and we are working to identify and remove all apps currently available in our store that contain these components.”
How the apps turn a TV into an exit node
Residential proxy networks, sometimes called “resproxies,” route internet traffic through everyday consumer devices. From the perspective of any website receiving that traffic, the request appears to come from a normal household IP address rather than a data center, which makes the activity harder to flag or block.
Mnemonic’s report points to weaknesses in how these apps are reviewed. Many of the affected titles are simple shells that load content from external servers, so the code reviewed by a platform like Samsung may not reflect what ultimately runs once the app is live. “What was reviewed is not necessarily what is running,” wrote Harrison Sand at Mnemonic.
To verify the behavior in practice, Sand rooted a Samsung TV and monitored its network activity. That made it possible to track which apps were sending and receiving traffic on behalf of outside users. In the Pac-Man app, he found proxy code linked to Bright Data, a company that operates a large residential proxy network and sells access to scraped datasets. According to the research, the proxy function only activates after a user accepts a consent prompt and then continues running in the background until the app is removed.
Why this can scale quickly
Sand warned that the setup could be expanded with minimal effort. A “simple code change on a web server” could activate proxy behavior across a large number of devices at once, turning them into a coordinated network. Because the proxy traffic is typically encrypted, observers have limited visibility into what is being transmitted.
From the traffic Sand was able to observe, some of it appeared tied to large-scale scraping, including LinkedIn data and other sources used in AI training. He noted that his view covered only a small portion of the overall activity, so the full scope is not known.
Residential proxies are legal but hard to police
Residential proxy services are not illegal and have legitimate uses, including bypassing censorship and supporting large-scale data collection. AI companies, for example, rely on them to gather training data from multiple sources. The same properties that make them useful also make them difficult to police: traffic appears to originate from ordinary households, and the encrypted payload limits what network defenders can see.
Samsung is not the only TV platform responding
LG said in July 2026 that it would also ban apps containing residential proxy software after reports found that about 42% of apps in its store were using similar technology. The two moves suggest the issue extends across smart TV ecosystems rather than being limited to a single vendor.
What users can check
Apps that load content from external servers are the hardest to audit, because what runs on the device can change after review. Users who want to reduce exposure can review installed apps and remove any that they do not actively use, watch for unusual network activity from the TV while it is idle, and pay attention to any consent prompts that mention sharing bandwidth, network resources, or acting as a network node.
FAQ
What is a residential proxy and how does it affect smart TV owners?
A residential proxy routes third-party internet traffic through a consumer device such as a smart TV, making the traffic look like it originates from a normal home. The device owner shares bandwidth, and the activity can continue in the background even when the app is not in use.
Why is Samsung removing smart TV apps now?
Samsung began removing apps after Mnemonic’s research showed that several titles, including one featured as “Editor’s Choice,” contained proxy code tied to commercial proxy operators. Samsung said it is blocking new registrations with this capability and working to remove existing apps.
Are residential proxies illegal?
No. Residential proxy networks have legitimate uses, including bypassing censorship and supporting data collection for AI training. The concern raised by the research is that users are often included in these networks through apps that do not clearly explain the trade-off.
Related coverage
This article summarizes reporting from techspot.com.