# Samsung TV privacy cleanup: recorded results

Recorded 24 October 2026. By [Trent Challis](https://trentchallis.com).

Read the warranty, damage and liability notice at the top of [the guide](index.html) before using any instructions.

| Model | Selected original app entries disabled | Newly disabled in the latest pass |
|---|---:|---:|
| 98-inch QN990C | 47 | 13 |
| 85-inch QN900C | 44 | 7 |
| 85-inch QN900A | 39 | 0 |

These counts are registry entries, not a count of independent trackers. Model names and firmware are not sufficient evidence of compatibility with a root method. Two existing custom startup containers were preserved and excluded from these counts.

## What the latest checks established

Selected app flags read back as disabled, with boot and automatic restart flags off. Fresh consistent database backups passed integrity checks. Comparisons confirmed unrelated app rows and non-selected fields unchanged. Guarded rollback was prepared, with backups retained privately on each TV and computer. Temporary-root sessions verified authenticated UID/EUID 0, checked system files unchanged and session cleanup completed.

Existing voice preferences were already off. TV Plus auto-start was false on the first and third TVs. The second did not expose a usable corresponding preference; no key was invented. No Samsung Health entry was identified on the second TV.

## What remains unresolved

Some selected processes restarted despite disabled flags: voice-app and far-field voice on the first TV; Gaming Hub daemon on the second; and several voice/Bixby helpers, Targeted Ad Service and Gaming Hub daemon on the third. Shared voice-interaction infrastructure remained running. This is not a claim that every listener or tracker was stopped.

Content-recognition and media-analytics runtime masks were in place at verification. Runtime masks clear after reboot. The TV-only startup prototypes and their complete automatic cold-boot sequence remain unverified. The latest expanded cleanup still requires a fresh power-cycle and persistence check.

Inspected audio-capture endpoints were closed at the audit snapshots. This limited observation does not establish complete microphone isolation or the absence of remote-button voice input.

Performance gains were not measured. The original poster’s reported threefold improvement is attributed in the guide and is not a benchmark from this work.

## Recovery

Use the original backups and guarded, field-specific rollback from your own exact TV and phase. Never restore another owner’s database, blindly reuse another model’s disable list or bypass a drift guard. Restore a customised startup container separately before broader rollback where required. Private device backups and device-specific recovery scripts are intentionally not part of this public site.