What is ACR on a smart TV?

Automatic Content Recognition — a feature built into nearly every modern smart TV that identifies what is on your screen and reports it back to the manufacturer, regardless of the source: cable box, streaming app, game console, or a laptop plugged in over HDMI. It is on by default on most sets.

Does ACR track you even when you are not using a streaming app?

Yes. A 2024 academic study (UC Davis, University College London, and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, published at the ACM Internet Measurement Conference) tested this directly: ACR kept reporting even when the TV was used purely as an external display for a laptop or game console over HDMI, or when content was cast to it over Wi-Fi. The researchers called it tracking "the second-party," since it happens independent of which app or source you are actually using.

How do I turn off ACR tracking?

It is a single settings toggle on every major brand — Samsung, LG, Vizio, Sony, and Roku-based TVs all let you disable it, and doing so does not affect streaming apps, channel changing, or firmware updates. See the by-brand steps below.

The surveillance you invited in

Is your smart TV spying on you?

Not in the hidden-camera sense — there's no lens pointed at your couch. But most smart TVs report what's on your screen back to the manufacturer, all day, by design. This is the quieter, more common version of what this whole site is about: not a stalker, a company that never told you clearly what it turned on by default.

What ACR actually does

Automatic Content Recognition identifies whatever is displayed on your screen — live TV, a streaming app, a game console, even a laptop plugged in over HDMI — and reports it to the manufacturer or a third-party partner. It isn't limited to the TV's own apps. A controlled network study published at the 2024 ACM Internet Measurement Conference (researchers from UC Davis, University College London, and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) connected Samsung and LG TVs to instrumented lab networks and measured the outbound traffic directly, rather than relying on a privacy policy. Two findings worth knowing:

It isn't occasional — it's constant. The study measured LG TVs reporting on-screen content roughly every 15 seconds and Samsung TVs roughly every 60 seconds, for as long as the TV is on.
It doesn't care what's plugged in. ACR kept working when the TV was used as a plain external display for a laptop or game console over HDMI, and when content was cast to it over Wi-Fi — situations where you'd reasonably assume the "smart" part of the TV wasn't involved at all.

The manufacturer can share this viewing profile with advertisers and data brokers. This isn't a hypothetical: in 2017 the FTC fined Vizio $2.2 million for collecting second-by-second viewing data on about 11 million TVs via its "Inscape" software without clear consent — the case that forced every major manufacturer toward an opt-in (or at least a findable opt-out) model going forward.

This is a textbook example of this site's whole point: most surveillance isn't a villain, it's a company that defaults to collecting and counts on you never finding the toggle.

Turn it off — by brand

Takes about a minute. Turning this off does not disable streaming apps, firmware updates, or the TV's ability to connect to the internet — it only stops the viewing-data collection.

Samsung: Home → Settings → General & Privacy → Privacy Choices → turn off Viewing Information Services.
LG: Home → Settings → General → System → Additional Settings → turn off Live Plus. Separately, check Settings → Support → Privacy & Terms → turn off Viewing Information — LG runs this as two settings, not one.
Vizio: Remote's Menu button → System → Reset & Admin → highlight Viewing Data → press right on the remote to set it Off.
Sony: Home → Settings → Initial Setup → find Samba Interactive TV (Sony licenses its ACR from Samba TV, a separate company) → turn it off.
Roku / Roku-powered TVs (TCL, Hisense, others): Home → Settings → Privacy → Smart TV Experience → turn off Use info from TV inputs. Also check Settings → Privacy → Advertising → turn off Personalized Ads while you're there.

No major brand requires a factory reset or account deletion to opt out — if an app or support page tells you otherwise, that's friction by design, not a real limitation.

What this doesn't fix

Turning off ACR stops the TV from fingerprinting your screen. It does not stop a streaming app's own first-party viewing data (Netflix still knows what you watch on Netflix), and it does not touch a voice assistant you've separately enabled — that's its own setting, in a different menu. ACR is the one running by default on hardware you own, which is why it's the one worth fixing first.

The Renter's Smart-Home Privacy Checklist

Renting a furnished place with a TV already installed? The move-in checklist covers what else landlord-supplied smart devices can log. What a landlord can and can't put in your home, what smart locks and thermostats actually log, and the move-in walk that checks it all in one pass.

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Cover: The Traveler's Counter-Surveillance Field Manual

The Field Manual — PDF edition

The field manual covers the gear and the tells for an actual hidden device — a different problem than a setting left on by default. The complete system — every check on this site plus the ten-minute walkthrough, audio devices, your legal rights, and what to do if you find something. 47 printable pages, instant download, keep it on any device.

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Keep going

The 90-second room sweepFour steps, no gear — the check to run when you arrive. Find hidden cameras in an AirbnbWhere devices actually hide, and the rules hosts must follow. Airbnb vs. Vrbo vs. Booking.comThree platforms, three different lines on indoor cameras — which one applies to your booking. The flashlight trickThe one free method that catches a camera even when it is off. The two-way mirror testWhy the fingernail trick doesn't work — and what does. Do detector apps work?What a controlled lab study found when 11 apps met real hidden cameras. Find a GPS tracker on a carThe 60-second check, plus the data your rental car keeps. Unknown AirTag alert?What the tracker warnings can and cannot do, and the manual check. Found something? Do thisThe order matters: don't touch it, cover your sightlines, document. Check a hotel room for hidden camerasDifferent risk than a rental, same 90 seconds — plus the housekeeping tell. Bugged? Here’s the honest answerAudio is a different problem than cameras — what actually finds a bug, and what can’t be found. Is a hidden camera illegal?The federal law, the state law, wiretap rules, and platform policy — in plain English. The Workplace Privacy ChecklistWhat your employer can actually see, and the 10-minute check that tells you where you stand. The Renter's Smart-Home Privacy ChecklistWhat landlord-installed smart locks and sensors can log, and the move-in check that tells you where you stand. Remove yourself from 30 people-search sitesDirect opt-out links, honestly rated — no paid removal service required. Is your smart TV spying on you?What ACR tracking actually does, and the one setting that turns it off. Is your own camera exposed online?The two-minute check for a baby monitor or home camera you own — not one someone hid. Neighbor's camera pointed at your house?What you can ask for, what the law actually protects, and when it crosses a line. Is an AI notetaker recording your meetings?Zoom AI Companion, Otter, Fireflies, Granola — the signs it’s on, and the lawsuits now testing whether that’s legal. Who else can see your doorbell camera?Police requests, employee access, and what actually changed in 2024 — your own camera, not a hidden one. Does your car report your driving to your insurer?GM's finalized FTC settlement, the data brokers involved, and how to check your own car's settings. Does your neighborhood have a license-plate camera?What Flock-style cameras at a gate or entrance actually keep, the August 2026 retention change, and how to ask your HOA or building. Does Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant record you?The 2019 human-review stories for all three, what changed since, and the setting that actually limits it. Does your robot vacuum photograph your home?Where the images go, two documented cases, and the settings that actually limit it. Do smart toys record your child’s voice?Two documented breaches, and the four questions to ask before a connected toy goes in the toy box. Does your fitness tracker’s data belong to you?The insurance discount that wants it, and three real cases where it ended up in a courtroom instead.