A recent privacy notice is plaguing Samsung TV owners by way of an incessant pop-up—every two hours. If you’re a victim of Samsung’s invasive pop-ups, there are a couple of solutions that have worked for some users.
Samsung’s Privacy Notification Is Spamming Everyone’s TV
As evidenced by recent pop-ups gracing Samsung televisions across the world, Samsung really wants us to know about its privacy policy. That’s admirable, because transparency is key in an age where data collection is one of the main concerns of smart home devices.
Regardless of its intentions, Samsung’s attempt to remind us that its privacy settings allow the company to “collect information” about our smart TV usage has not gone over well, likely due to a software bug. Many users took to support forums to express their desperate efforts to curb a pop-up reappearing on their TV every two hours.
One user on Samsung’s support forum reported that a “ding sound” had accompanied the reoccurring pop-up. While the user could see that the notification had something to do with Samsung’s SmartHub privacy policy, the dialogue disappeared before they were able to read the entire message.
Other users have been able to review and clear the notification without issue.
How to Remove the Samsung TV Privacy Pop-Up
While Samsung is working on an internal solution that will address this bug across the board, here are a few quick fixes that have worked for some in the meantime.
Log In to Your Samsung Account on a Browser
Reported on Samsung’s European forum, some users were able to remove this pop-up by logging in to their account on Samsung’s website and viewing the privacy notice there.
- Go to account.samsung.com.
- Select the Privacy tab.
- Review the privacy update.
Disconnect Your Samsung TV From the Internet
You can also take your Samsung TV offline, which has curbed the notification for some people. This solution works best if you use your Samsung TV more as a monitor, as opposed to relying on its connectivity for streaming apps. Of course, if you use your Samsung TV as a monitor, you may have already disconnected its WiFi, given the data-related risks of connecting your smart TV to the internet.
At the least, disconnecting your Samsung TV from the internet could work as some temporary relief, while Samsung works out the software kink.
It’s certainly not a great look for Samsung, but I imagine they’ll fix the software bug soon. It’s pretty ironic that in the company’s efforts to be transparent about privacy, it crossed the sacred boundaries of living rooms everywhere. Furthermore, Samsung has accidentally created a glaring reminder (every two hours) that Big Tech is watching.
