What data do smart TVs and connected appliances collect?
How automatic content recognition in smart TVs works, what regulators have done about it, how to switch it off by brand and how to limit appliance telemetry.
Photo: Nicolas J Leclercq / Unsplash
After reading this article you will be able to:
- Explain how automatic content recognition identifies what is on a smart TV screen
- Find and turn off the viewing data setting on the main TV platforms
- Choose network-level measures that limit what TVs and appliances send home
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Most smart TVs can identify what is on the screen and report it to the manufacturer, using a technique called automatic content recognition (ACR). It works on broadcast channels, streaming apps and, on many sets, whatever arrives through the HDMI inputs, such as a games console or a cable box. The data feeds advertising, audience measurement and recommendations. It is usually switched on through a consent screen during setup, and it can be switched off in the TV’s settings.
Connected appliances collect less glamorous data, mostly telemetry about their own state and use, but the same questions apply: what leaves the house, who gets it, and how to say no. This guide covers how ACR works, what regulators have done, the settings by brand, and what you can do at the network level.
How does automatic content recognition work?
ACR works like a song-recognition app pointed at your screen. Software on the TV takes compact fingerprints of the picture or sound at short intervals and sends them to a server, which matches them against a library of programs and ads. The match produces a viewing log: which program, which ad, for how long, on which device.
Because the fingerprint is taken from what the TV displays, the source does not matter much. Roku’s TV user guide says its Smart TV experience uses ACR to collect information about what you watch on live TV and on devices connected to the HDMI or AV inputs. A peer-reviewed measurement study presented at the ACM Internet Measurement Conference in 2024 examined Samsung and LG TVs in the UK and the U.S. It found that ACR kept running when the TV was used only as a display for an external device, that opting out stopped traffic to the ACR servers, and that behavior differed between the two countries.
The value to manufacturers is commercial. In the VIZIO case described below, the FTC said the viewing data was sold to third parties who used it, among other things, to target advertising to the same consumers on their other devices.
What have regulators done about it?
The first major case was in the U.S. On 6 February 2017 VIZIO agreed to pay $2.2 million to the Federal Trade Commission and the New Jersey Attorney General over charges that it collected second-by-second viewing data from 11 million TVs without consumers’ knowledge or consent. The setting was called “Smart Interactivity” and was described as enabling program suggestions, without saying that it collected viewing data. The order required VIZIO to disclose its data practices prominently, get affirmative express consent, and delete data collected before 1 March 2016.
In December 2025 the Texas Attorney General sued Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense and TCL, alleging that their ACR software could capture screenshots of the display every 500 milliseconds and send viewing data back without users’ knowledge or consent. These are allegations in a lawsuit. The office later announced agreements with Samsung in February 2026, requiring express consent before ACR data is collected in Texas, and with LG in May 2026, requiring a pop-up disclosure and informed consent.
In the EU, viewing logs linked to a person or household fall under data protection law. For appliances, the EU Data Act, which applies from 12 September 2025, adds a buyer’s right to know. Before the sale, the seller must state what type and estimated volume of data the product can generate, whether it does so continuously, where it is stored and for how long, and how the user can access or erase it (Article 3(2)). Users can also request the data the product generates (Article 4), and products placed on the market after 12 September 2026 must be designed to make it accessible.
How do you turn ACR off on your TV?
Every platform names the setting differently, and menus move between software versions. Use the name to search your TV’s settings, and check again after a factory reset or a major update.
| Platform | Setting name | Official reference |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung | Viewing Information Services | Samsung support |
| LG (webOS) | Live Plus | TV settings menu (location varies by webOS version) |
| Roku TV | Smart TV experience, “Use info from TV inputs” | Roku TV user guide |
| VIZIO | Viewing Data | VIZIO user manual |
Samsung’s support page says ACR on its TVs runs only if you accepted the Viewing Information Services notice, and that you can change the choice at any time in the Settings menu. Roku’s guide gives the path Settings, Privacy, Smart TV experience, then clearing “Use info from TV inputs”, and warns that previously collected information is retained and not deleted. VIZIO’s manual for its 2023 Quantum models puts Viewing Data under the Admin & Privacy menu.
Two related settings are worth a look while you are there: interest-based or personalized advertising, and the advertising identifier, which many platforms let you reset. Turning off ACR does not stop all data collection. The TV still contacts the manufacturer for updates, app store access and its home screen.
What do connected appliances send?
A connected washing machine, oven, fridge or heat pump typically reports its state (running, finished, door open), settings, energy use, error codes and usage patterns, plus the account and app data you create. Some of this is what you bought the product for: a notification when the wash ends, remote diagnostics, energy scheduling. Some serves the manufacturer: product improvement, warranty analysis, marketing. Appliances with screens are also a display the manufacturer controls.
The trade-off is easier to judge with the Data Act information in hand. If a product generates more data than its features need, or keeps it on a remote server with no stated retention period, that is worth knowing before you buy. Appliances with a local interface, or support for local control through a hub such as Home Assistant, let you keep the useful features without routing everything through the vendor.
What can you do at the network level?
Settings depend on the manufacturer honoring them. Network measures do not, though each has costs.
- Do not connect the TV at all. Use it as a display and stream from a separate box whose settings you control. Remember that the box collects data too, and that an offline TV gets no security updates.
- Put TVs and appliances on their own network. A guest Wi-Fi or a separate VLAN with network segmentation does not reduce what they send, but it limits what a compromised device can reach on your home network.
- Block known tracking domains with DNS filtering. A filtering DNS resolver on the router or on a small home server can block domains used for ads and telemetry. Lists go out of date, blocking the wrong domain can break the home screen or apps, and blocking update servers leaves the device unpatched.
- Restrict internet access per device. Many routers can block a device from the internet while leaving it reachable on the local network, which suits appliances you control locally.
A sensible order for most households is: turn off ACR and personalized ads in settings, move the TV and appliances to a separate network, and add DNS filtering only if you are willing to maintain it.
Where to go next
- The smart home, explained covers ecosystems and privacy across the whole house.
- Home Assistant explained shows how to control devices locally instead of through vendor clouds.
- Security support periods explains how long a TV or appliance will get security updates.
- IoT security fundamentals covers the threats behind network segmentation.
Topics: privacy, smart TV, ACR, telemetry, smart home, Data Act, everyday questions