If I told you that your TV watches everything you do in the name of data collection and advertising, it likely wouldn’t shock you. It’s 2025, after all; we’re used to a general lack of privacy. Still, it’s not cool, and it turns out you can stop it (even if your TV manufacturer has opted you into it).
So, how do you stop your smart TV from tracking what you watch, so you can go back to the days of watching Netflix or playing video games in peace? You need to turn off ACR.
How does your TV track what you watch?
Meet ACR: This technology, short for automatic content recognition, allows your smart TV to watch what you watch, identify what you watch, and use that information to both recommend new content and serve you more relevant ads. Your TV observes moments in a show or movie (sometimes including audio), and will send that information to a database to match it against a library of content.
ACR does this by literally taking screenshots of what is happening on your screen, roughly two per second. That enables tracking on everything, whether you use your smart TV apps, a Blu-ray player, a device like an Apple TV, or a PlayStation—whatever you display on your TV, ACR can watch and report.
Most major TV manufacturers put ACR tracking in their devices. After Vizio got into hot water for not properly disclosing how much data they were stealing from customers, TV manufacturers started baking these settings into initial setup agreements. If you’re like me, you accidentally agreed to this tracking without realizing it, because you were too focused on getting your TV set up to care about, you know, reading a legal document.
If you have a smart TV, it likely has ACR tracking you can disable. However, all TV manufacturers call this option something different. I’ll run through some of the top brands, what they each call their ACR settings, and where to find them. Even still, these brands change their settings menus and settings names all the time, so even if you have a TV from a company listed here, you might not find my instructions relevant.
Your best bet, if these instructions don’t help, is to Google your specific TV model and where to find its ACR settings. You should be able to find a guide from the manufacturer, or a walkthrough from someone with access to your TV who knows where to find the setting. But if you have an LG, Samsung, Sony, Hisense, or TCL, follow along below, with a hat tip to our sister-site ZDNet:
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How to disable ACR on your smart TV
LG TVs
If you have an LG smart TV (like me), then your ACR settings are going to be under Live Plus. The setting sounds innocent enough, but it’s likely meant to so that you keep it enabled. You’ll find this option in Settings > General > System > Additional Settings > Live Plus. While you’re here, you might as well enable “Limit Ad Tracking” under Advertisement.
Samsung TVs
Let’s take a look at another popular TV brand, Samsung. You’ll find your ACR options in the sidebar menu under Privacy Choices > Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy. Just make sure to disable “Viewing Information Services.”
Sony TVs
Sony keeps their ACR options under Settings > Initial Setup > Samba Interactive TV. From here, disable Samba Interactive TV. In addition, you might find ad tracking features under About > Ads > Ads Personalization.
Hisense TVs
Hisense keeps its ACR under Settings > System > Privacy. Its name will depend on your particular model, but it might be called “Smart TV Experience” or “Viewing Information Services.” TCL keeps its settings under Settings > Privacy > Smart TV Experience. Here, disable “Use Info from TV Inputs.”
