Samsung suddenly advertised a feature that allows the company to disable stolen TVs remotely. The company calls it the "TV Blocks feature," and Samsung recently activated it in South Africa after TVs were stolen from a warehouse.
Last month, a Samsung warehouse was looted during a wave of protests in South Africa, forcing Samsung to disable them. It is important to note that televisions must be connected to the Internet to disable them.
When the TV connects to the Internet, the serial code is checked against a list of Samsung servers. If there is a match, the feature disables all TV functionality , rendering it useless to thieves.
Samsung claims that the feature is "already preloaded on all Samsung TV products" and that it "ensures that TV owners can only be used by rightful owners with valid proof of purchase."
For a case like this, where the televisions are stolen from the Samsung warehouse, it is much easier for the company to know the serial numbers. On the other hand, if they were stolen from a store or a person's home , it would be much more difficult to know the number that would allow the TV to lock.
The company did not clarify if the feature is only used for mass looting like this or if a customer could reach out to Samsung to turn on the "TV blocks feature" to disable their TV. Of course, the user would have to know the serial number of their TV, which most people probably don't.
