Samsung joins LG in banning smart TV proxy apps

Your smart TV might be letting strangers use your internet connection.

Samsung has joined LG in banning apps from its smart TV store that secretly turn televisions into residential proxy nodes. These apps route third-party internet traffic through your home network without your knowledge, effectively selling your bandwidth to whoever pays.

Residential proxies are valuable because they make traffic look like it comes from a real home rather than a data centre. Ad fraudsters, credential stuffers, and price scrapers all pay premiums for them. The TV apps provided that cover by piggybacking on unsuspecting households.

Both manufacturers are now actively scanning their app stores and blocking new submissions that exhibit proxy behaviour. If you own a Samsung or LG smart TV, check your installed apps and remove anything unfamiliar.