Smart TVs use a technology called automatic content recognition (ACR) to identify nearly everything on your screen and report it back to the manufacturer, which then uses that data to sell targeted ads. In essence, your smart TV is watching you.

It’s yet another way corporate surveillance is spilling off the internet and into your home. And it isn’t a fringe concern. In December 2025, the Texas Attorney General sued smart TV brands(cửa sổ mới) — Samsung, Sony, Hisense, LG, and TCL — accusing them of secretly recording what people watch in their own homes. Samsung(cửa sổ mới) and LG(cửa sổ mới) have since settled, agreeing to get Texas viewers’ consent before collecting ACR data and to show clearer disclosures about how it’s used.

The good news is that you can switch ACR off. In this article, we explain what automatic content recognition is, why ACR data is a privacy problem, and exactly how to disable smart TV ACR on every major brand.

What is automatic content recognition?

Automatic content recognition is a technology that identifies the content playing on a device by matching it against a database of known media. It can collect content consumption information automatically at the screen or speaker level, without any user input. ACR is built into almost every smart TV sold today, and it’s usually switched on by default.

How ACR TV tracking works

Imagine an uninvited stranger sitting with you while you watch TV. They jot down every show, movie, ad, and game that appears on your screen and exactly when you watched it, then sell those notes to advertisers. That’s essentially what ACR TV tracking does.

ACR works by repeating a quick routine in the background of whatever you’re watching:

  1. It takes a snapshot. Your TV repeatedly captures frames of the picture and/or bits of the audio playing on screen.
  2. It turns the snapshot into a code. That sample is boiled down to a short code that matches that exact moment of that show, a bit like the barcode on a product.
  3. It looks up the code. Your TV sends the code to the manufacturer’s or partner’s servers, which check it against a huge library of shows, movies, and ads to find a match.
  4. It writes it down. The match is added to a record of your viewing, along with the time, the channel, and details that tie it to your TV and your home internet connection.

A 2024 study(cửa sổ mới) found that LG smart TVs sent a report every 15 seconds, and Samsung TVs once a minute. The same study cites LG and Samsung’s own documentation, which says the screen captures themselves happen far more often: every 10 milliseconds on LG TVs and every 500 milliseconds on Samsung. Over a two-hour movie, that’s around 480 reports from an LG TV.

The researchers also found that ACR kept working even when the TV was only displaying something plugged into it. That means your cable box, your game console, or a laptop connected with an HDMI cable can all be tracked too.

Why ACR data is a privacy problem

What you watch can reveal a lot about you. Advertisers can use ACR data to infer your political leanings, income, interests, and daily routine. In its 2017 case against Vizio, the FTC treated TV viewing history as sensitive data(cửa sổ mới) that requires your consent. Kentucky(cửa sổ mới) has since written that into law and is set to require companies to get your consent before collecting ACR data from smart TVs starting in July 2027.

It builds a profile of you

Binge cooking shows, and you might start seeing ads for meal kits. In the same 2024 study(cửa sổ mới) mentioned above, researchers found that Samsung and LG use ACR data to sort viewers into “audience segments”, like sports fans or shoppers, that advertisers can then target. Vizio went further, combining what people watched(cửa sổ mới) with their age, income, and marital status, then selling the results to advertisers.

It follows you across your other devices

Because ACR data is tied to your home internet connection, the ad for a show you watched last night can appear on your phone the next morning. A smart TV can quietly undo the work you’ve put into keeping your browsing private.

Your TV becomes a revenue stream

You paid for your TV, but the manufacturer gets paid again every time you watch it. That means TV manufacturers have little incentive to protect your data. Samsung and LG both run their own ACR-powered ad businesses(cửa sổ mới), Samsung Ads and LG Ad Solutions. And as recently as 2021, Vizio was earning more from ads and viewer data(cửa sổ mới) than from selling TVs.

It’s hidden on purpose 

In 2017, Vizio paid $2.2 million(cửa sổ mới) to settle charges for tracking 11 million TVs without consent. Back in 2013, an IT consultant discovered that LG TVs kept sending viewing data(cửa sổ mới), even after users had switched the feature off. Today, ACR is disguised as Viewing Information Services on Samsung TV settings, Live Plus on LG TVs, or Samba Interactive TV on Sony TVs.

ACR is just one of the ways smart TVs compromise your privacy. Our guide to smart TV privacy risks covers the rest, from always-on microphones to hidden trackers in streaming apps.

How to disable smart TV ACR

Every manufacturer buries ACR in a different menu under a different name. Menu paths also vary by model year and software version, so if a step doesn’t match your TV exactly, look for the setting’s name in a nearby Privacy or Terms menu.

Disable ACR on Samsung smart TVs

Samsung calls ACR Viewing Information Services.

  1. Press the Home button on your remote and open the menu on the left.
  2. Select Privacy Choices, then Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy.
  3. Uncheck Viewing Information Services and select OK.

On some models, the path is Settings > All Settings > General & Privacy > Terms & Privacy.

Note: A 2026 study found that Samsung TVs may keep sending ACR-like traffic even after adjusting these settings.

Disable ACR on LG smart TVs

LG calls ACR Live Plus and also collects Viewing Information.

  1. Press the Home button, then the Settings button on your remote.
  2. Go to Settings → General → System → Additional Settings and turn off Live Plus.
  3. Go back to the main Settings menu → Support → Privacy & Terms → User Agreements and turn off Viewing Information.

For extra privacy, change these settings too:

  1. Press the Home button, then the Settings button on your remote.
  2. Go to Settings → Support → Privacy & Terms → User Agreements and turn off Voice Information and Interest-Based & Cross-Device Advertising.
  3. Go back to the main Settings menu → Additional Settings, locate Advertisement and turn on Limit AD Tracking.
  4. Also in the Additional Settings menu, select Home Settings and uncheck the Home Promotion and Content Recommendation options.

LG TVs have been reported to turn Live Plus back on after software updates, so check this setting every few months.

Disable ACR on Sony smart TVs

Sony uses a third-party company, Samba TV, to run ACR.

  1. Press the Home button on your remote and navigate to Settings.
  2. Find Samba Interactive TV (under Initial Setup or All Settings, depending on your model).
  3. Select Disable.

For extra privacy, change these settings too:

  1. Go to Settings → About → Ads and turn off Ads Personalization.
  2. Go to Settings > Apps > Samba Services Manager, then select Clear Cache, Force Stop, and Disable.
  3. If your Sony TV runs Android TV or Google TV, also open the Google Home app on your phone, select your TV, tap the three dots, choose Settings, and turn off Send Chromecast device usage data and crash reports.

Disable ACR on Vizio smart TVs

Vizio calls ACR Viewing Data (it used to be Smart Interactivity). The steps depend on which software your TV runs.

On SmartCast TVs:

  1. Press the Menu or gear button on your remote.
  2. Go to All Settings → Privacy and Legal.
  3. Highlight Viewing Data and press the right arrow to turn it Off.

On VIA Plus TVs:

  1. Press the Menu button on your remote or open the HDTV Settings app.
  2. Go to System → Reset & Admin.
  3. Highlight Viewing Data and press the right arrow to turn it Off.

According to Vizio, turning off Viewing Data also deletes the viewing logs it has already collected from that TV. But note that a 2026 study found that Vizio TVs may keep sending ACR-like traffic even after adjusting these settings.

Disable ACR on Roku TVs (TCL, Hisense, etc.)

These steps apply to any smart TV running Roku’s software.

  1. Go to Settings and select Privacy.
  2. Locate Smart TV Experience and uncheck Use Info from TV Inputs.

For extra privacy, change these settings too:

  1. Go to Settings → Privacy → Advertising, select Limit ad tracking, and uncheck Personalized ads.
  2. Go to Settings → Privacy → Microphone to limit which channels can access the mic.

Note that Roku’s opt-out doesn’t cover its own streaming service.

Disable ACR on Hisense smart TVs (non-Roku models)

Hisense TVs run several different operating systems, so the wording may vary slightly.

  1. Go to Settings → System → Privacy.
  2. Find Smart TV Experience, Viewing Information Services, Enhanced Viewing Service, Enhanced Viewing Options, or a similarly named option and turn it off.

 For extra privacy, in the same menu, turn off Ad Tracking or Interest-Based Ads, plus any personalized content recommendations.

Disable ACR on Amazon Fire TV smart TVs

Amazon uses ACR to track what you watch through connected devices, like a cable box, and may combine that data(cửa sổ mới) with your account and device identifiers.

  1. Press the Settings button and go to Preferences → Privacy Settings.
  2. Turn off Automatic Content Recognition.

If you use a Fire TV Stick rather than a Fire TV smart TV, you may not see the ACR setting. It’s still worth changing the privacy settings below, though.

  1. Press the Settings button and go to Preferences → Privacy Settings.
  2. Turn off Device Usage Data, Collect App Usage Data, and Interest-based Ads.
  3. If you watch TV through an antenna, also turn off the over-the-air viewing data setting.

On some Fire TV smart TVs, you can also manage these settings from your Amazon account under Privacy Settings → Amazon Devices Privacy.

Note that these settings can reset when Fire TV updates, so recheck them after each update.

Does turning off ACR actually work?

Mostly, but not on every TV. In a 2026 study(cửa sổ mới), researchers tested the opt-out on TVs covering roughly 95% of the US market.

It worked on LG, Sony, Amazon Fire TV, and Hisense’s VIDAA TVs. That’s a turnaround for LG, which was caught ignoring opt-outs back in 2013(cửa sổ mới). However, three brands in the study fell short:

  • Samsung: ACR-like traffic continued in most antenna, HDMI, and Samsung TV Plus tests.
  • Vizio: The setting had no visible effect, even while the TV sat idle.
  • Roku: The opt-out doesn’t cover Roku’s own streaming service.

The traffic was encrypted, so the researchers couldn’t confirm what it contained. Still, it’s a reason not to rely on the settings alone.

Go beyond turning off ACR

Turning off ACR takes a few minutes, but it isn’t a one-time fix. Because software updates can switch privacy settings back to their defaults, it’s a constant push-and-pull between you and the manufacturer. Here are some practical tips on safeguarding your privacy on smart TVs.

  • Keep your TV offline: This is the most effective fix, since a TV that isn’t connected to the internet has nowhere to send your viewing data. That doesn’t mean you can’t watch Netflix, though. Just use a streaming device and lock down its privacy settings too.
  • Choose your next TV with privacy in mind: Truly “dumb” TVs are hard to find now, so if you’re buying a new one, pick a brand whose ACR opt-out actually works.
  • Hide your IP address with a VPN: If your TV stays online, every company it talks to can see your IP address. That’s how advertisers link what you watch on TV to what you do on your phone and laptop. Using a streaming VPN makes it harder to tie the data your TV sends back to you.

Proton VPN replaces your real IP address with one shared by many other users, and strong encryption ensures your internet service provider can’t see which streaming services you watch. Use our apps for Apple TV, Android TV, and Fire TV Stick, or set Proton VPN up on your router for smart TVs that can’t run VPN apps.

Just remember that a VPN can’t turn off ACR. So use both: a VPN to protect your connection, and tight privacy settings to limit what your TV collects.

Get Proton VPN

Final thoughts

The costs and benefits of ACR aren’t shared evenly between manufacturers and customers like you and me. Manufacturers and advertisers profit immensely from a detailed record of what happens on our TV screens at the cost of our privacy, usually without us even knowing the feature is on.

Turning ACR off and taking some extra privacy precautions only takes a few minutes, and it means your TV goes back to being something you watch, not something that watches you.