Study finds TV viewing-tracking opt-outs work for most brands but not all
PRIVACYSamsungredteam/daily · 1 source
- Severity
- Low
- Sources
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What happened
Northeastern University researchers monitored 12 TVs from 10 manufacturers to test whether opting out of automatic content recognition (ACR) stops viewing-data collection. The opt-out was effective on most devices, including LG, Amazon Fire TV, Sony Bravia (Google TV) and Vidaa OS models from Hisense, Toshiba and Supersonic. Samsung and Roku continued sending some data, and Walmart's Vizio continued tracking as if no opt-out had been selected. Defenders should verify ACR is disabled on their own devices rather than assume the setting works, and should not rely on opt-outs for Samsung, Roku or Vizio sets.
For security analysts · Written by AI from 1 source · Wrong?
What to do
- Turn off automatic content recognition in your TV's privacy or settings menu.
- If you own a Samsung, Roku or Vizio TV, check whether it still sends viewing data after you opt out, as the study found some continued to do so.
Written by AI from the sources, checked against them
Full story timeline · 1 update
- Wed 4 NovemberDoes opting out of TV tracking work?The Verge
Who reported · 1 outlet
The Verge