Most people assume a smart TV only knows what they watch through its own apps — Netflix, YouTube, the built-in store. The reality is broader. Through a technology called ACR — Automatic Content Recognition — many smart TVs quietly identify almost everything that appears on the screen, and that includes whatever you have plugged in: your game console, your PC, a cable box.
ACR isn't so much a scandal hiding in the fine print as a business model most owners were never clearly asked about. Here's what it actually does, why it exists, and what you can do about it.
What ACR actually is
ACR works a little like a song-recognition app, but for your screen. At regular intervals the TV captures a sample of what's displayed — a kind of visual fingerprint — and matches it against a database to work out exactly what you're watching. That identification is sent back to the manufacturer.
Research presented at the 2024 ACM Internet Measurement Conference measured how often this happens: in the systems studied, LG televisions sampled the screen roughly every 15 seconds and Samsung roughly once a minute. It runs quietly in the background, with no visible sign it is working.
Why it sees your console and your PC
Here is the part that surprises people. ACR doesn't only watch the TV's own apps. It works on whatever signal reaches the screen — including HDMI inputs. So when you play on a PlayStation, an Xbox, or a gaming PC connected over HDMI, the TV is still sampling and identifying what's on screen.
It isn't reading your game's network traffic or your account — it is recognising the picture. But the practical result is that your TV can log which games you play and when, and fold that into the same profile built from your streaming habits.
What it's for — the honest version
It's worth being fair about why ACR exists. The data feeds two things: content recommendations, and — much more valuably — advertising. Knowing what households actually watch lets manufacturers sell precise ad targeting and measurement, and a modern TV is sold cheaply partly because that ongoing data is worth money.
That is not automatically sinister. The real objection most people have isn't that measurement exists; it's that it was switched on by default and described, if at all, on a setup screen worded to be agreed with rather than understood.
The 2025–2026 legal turn
That consent gap is now being tested. On 15 December 2025 the Texas Attorney General sued all five major TV makers — Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense and TCL — arguing they unlawfully collected and monetised viewing data through ACR.
On 26 February 2026 Samsung became the first to settle. It agreed to stop collecting ACR viewing data from Texas customers without their express consent, and to add clear, conspicuous disclosure and consent screens so owners can make an informed choice. No fine was disclosed. The other four manufacturers are still contesting the cases.
The significance isn't one settlement; it's the principle — that express consent, clearly asked for, should come before this kind of collection.
How to turn ACR off
You don't have to wait for a lawsuit in your area. ACR can be switched off on every major brand, though it is never under an obvious label. In your TV's settings, look in the privacy or terms section and turn off options named something like:
- Samsung: "Viewing Information Services"
- LG: "Live Plus"
- Sony and others: usually under privacy settings — ACR, "viewing data," or "interest-based ads"
Wording shifts between models and firmware versions, so if you don't see those exact names, go through every privacy and advertising sub-menu and disable anything about viewing data, content recognition, or personalised ads. It's also reasonable to decline these prompts the next time the TV resurfaces them after an update.
The takeaway
A smart TV using ACR is fingerprinting your screen — your shows, and your games — to build a profile worth money to advertisers. It's legal, it's common, and it's also something most owners never knowingly agreed to, which is exactly why regulators have started to push back. You can't change the business model, but you can opt out of it in a couple of minutes in the settings — and now you know it's there to opt out of.