Your smart TV is running a feature you almost certainly never turned on.
It's called ACR — Automatic Content Recognition. It works like Shazam, but instead of identifying songs on request, it runs continuously in the background: capturing screenshots of whatever is on your screen, matching those frames against a content database, and sending that viewing history to advertisers and data brokers. It tracks everything — streaming apps, live TV, and devices plugged into HDMI like your game console or cable box.
In December 2025, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense, and TCL over ACR, calling it "an uninvited, invisible digital invader." His office obtained temporary restraining orders against Samsung and Hisense while the cases proceed.
Here's how the six major platforms actually compare.
The Comparison at a Glance
| Platform | ACR Used | HDMI Tracking | On by Default | Data Sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Tizen | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| LG webOS | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Roku | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Google TV | ⚠️ Platform: No / Brand: Varies | ⚠️ Varies | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Amazon Fire TV | ❌ No (HDMI) | ❌ No | ⚠️ Partial | ⚠️ Partial |
| Apple TV 4K | ❌ No | ❌ No | N/A | ❌ No |
Samsung Tizen
ACR is called "Viewing Information Services" — not ACR — which is why most users never find it. It's buried under Settings → Support → Terms & Policy, not in the Privacy menu.
Texas obtained a temporary restraining order against Samsung specifically. The court agreed there was sufficient reason to pause data collection while the lawsuit proceeds.
Disable it:
Settings → Support → Terms & Policy → Viewing Information Services → Off
Also disable: Interest-Based Advertisement Services
LG webOS
LG's ACR is called "Live Plus." It defaults to on and tracks content across HDMI inputs.
Disable it:
Settings → All Settings → General → Live Plus → Off
Settings → All Settings → General → About This TV → User Agreements → Viewing Information → Off
Two separate settings, not one. Missing the second one still leaves partial tracking enabled.
Roku
Roku is the most transparent about ACR — its published documentation explicitly states that collected data is shared with third parties and that previously collected data is retained even if you disable the feature later.
Disabling ACR on Roku stops HDMI-based tracking but doesn't affect data collected from Roku's own streaming channels. That requires separate steps.
Disable it:
Settings → Privacy → Smart TV Experience → Use Info from TV Inputs → uncheck
Settings → Privacy → Advertising → Limit Ad Tracking → on
Settings → Privacy → Privacy Choices → disable data sharing
Google TV (Sony, TCL, Philips, Hisense)
Google's platform doesn't use ACR directly. But the individual TV brand (Sony, TCL, etc.) may add its own ACR layer separately. And Google's own data collection from the platform — searches, YouTube viewing, app usage — feeds into the same ad profile used across all your Google-connected devices. There's no opting out of Google's core policies if you want smart TV functionality.
Check for brand-specific ACR under:
Settings → Device Preferences → Samba Interactive TV → Disable
or
Settings → Display & Sound → Intelligent Settings → all off
Settings → Privacy → Usage & Diagnostics → off
Amazon Fire TV
Amazon has publicly confirmed it doesn't use ACR to track content from HDMI-connected devices. That's the key differentiator from every other platform in this list.
It still collects data on what you watch through antenna inputs and Fire TV streaming apps. But the absence of HDMI ACR tracking is a meaningful privacy win.
Tighten it further:
Settings → Preferences → Privacy Settings → Collect App and Over-the-Air Usage Data → off
Settings → Preferences → Privacy Settings → Interest-Based Ads → off
Apple TV 4K
No ACR. Full stop. Apple has confirmed this, and independent research supports it.
Apple does collect some usage data within its own apps, but processes it through differential privacy — anonymized in aggregate before use. Third-party apps must explicitly request tracking permission under tvOS, which you can block globally.
Settings → Privacy → Tracking → Allow Apps to Request to Track → off
One caveat: Apple TV is a streaming box, not a TV. If the physical TV it's plugged into has ACR enabled, that TV's OS is still screenshotting whatever Apple TV displays. The correct setup is Apple TV as your streaming device plus ACR disabled on the TV itself.
The Part Most Guides Miss
Disabling ACR at the OS level doesn't stop individual streaming apps from tracking you — Netflix, YouTube, and every other app collect data separately under their own policies. You need to treat the TV's OS and each app as separate tracking systems.
Also: firmware updates on Samsung, LG, and Roku have been documented to reset privacy settings to their defaults. Set a reminder to recheck after every major update.
The practical hierarchy if privacy matters to you:
- Apple TV 4K — no ACR, anonymized data, explicit tracking consent model
- Amazon Fire TV — no HDMI ACR, still collects streaming data
- Google TV — platform ACR-free, but brand ACR and Google's data model apply
- Roku — ACR on by default, unusually transparent documentation
- LG webOS — ACR on by default, requires two separate settings to disable
- Samsung Tizen — ACR on by default, buried deepest in legal menus
Full breakdown with per-brand step-by-step settings: https://lucas8.com/smart-tv-acr-privacy-comparison
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