You brought home a sleek new smart TV, connected it to Wi-Fi, and started streaming. What you probably didn't realize: your television may be tracking every show you watch, every app you open, and even what's happening in your living room — then selling that data to advertisers.

A 2026 investigation by Consumer Reports and the Center for Digital Democracy found that major smart TV brands — including Samsung, LG, TCL, and Vizio — collect between 50 and 200 data points per viewing session, from which streaming services you use to what time of day you watch. Some sets even use automatic content recognition (ACR), software that identifies every program on screen, including content from cable boxes, gaming consoles, and DVDs — not just apps built into the TV.

What Your TV Knows About You

The data your smart TV collects is surprisingly granular. According to privacy researchers at Princeton University who analyzed network traffic from popular TV models, the information being sent to manufacturers and third-party advertisers typically includes:

  • Every title you watch, down to the episode and timestamp
  • How long you watch before switching to something else
  • Which ads you watch in full and which you skip
  • Your approximate location (derived from your IP address)
  • Device information including your Wi-Fi network name
  • In some cases, voice commands captured by microphone-equipped remotes

"Most people would be shocked to learn their smart TV is essentially a data-collection device that also happens to play Netflix. The privacy policies are purposefully buried in setup menus." — Consumer Reports, 2026 Smart TV Privacy Investigation

5 Settings to Change Immediately

1. Disable Automatic Content Recognition (ACR)

This is the big one. ACR is the technology that identifies what you're watching regardless of source. On Samsung TVs, it's called "Viewing Information Services." On LG, look for "Live Plus." On Vizio, it's "Viewing Data." On TCL/Roku TVs, navigate to Settings > Privacy > Smart TV Experience and disable "Use Info from TV Inputs."

Where to find it: Settings > Privacy or Settings > General > Privacy, depending on your brand. Turn it off.

2. Opt Out of Personalized Advertising

Disabling ACR stops content recognition, but your TV may still build an advertising profile based on what you stream through built-in apps. Every major smart TV platform has a "Limit Ad Tracking" or "Opt Out of Personalized Ads" toggle. Find it and enable it.

On Samsung: Settings > Privacy > Personalization Service > Customization Service > Off.
On LG: Settings > All Settings > General > Privacy > Advertisements > Reset Ad ID and toggle "Limit Ad Tracking."
On Roku: Settings > Privacy > Advertising > "Limit ad tracking."

3. Disable Voice Assistant Data Collection

If your remote has a microphone button, recordings of your voice commands are often stored and analyzed. On most TVs, you can disable this entirely. On Samsung, go to Settings > Privacy > Voice Recognition Services and toggle it off. On LG, find Settings > All Settings > General > AI Service and disable "Voice Recognition."

4. Turn Off Usage and Diagnostics Sharing

This sounds innocuous — "help us improve your experience" — but typically sends detailed logs about how you use the TV back to the manufacturer. Find the "Usage & Diagnostics" or "Help Improve" setting and disable it.

5. Disconnect the TV from Wi-Fi (When You Can)

The nuclear option, but the most effective one. If you use an external streaming device like an Apple TV, Roku stick, or Chromecast, consider keeping your actual TV offline entirely. Your external device handles the streaming, and your TV becomes a "dumb" display. The privacy trade-off is significant, and a $30 streaming stick often has better privacy controls than a $1,500 television.

The Bottom Line

Smart TVs aren't going away, and their convenience is real. But convenience shouldn't come at the cost of privacy you never agreed to give up. These five changes take under 10 minutes and meaningfully reduce what your television knows about you — and what it shares with advertisers. Spend the time. It's your living room.