Samsung TV tracking: What ACR collects and how to opt out

Samsung says its smart TVs can use a technology called Automatic Content Recognition, or ACR, to learn what is on the screen. The company says ACR runs only for owners who agreed to its Viewing Information Services, whether at setup or afterward through Settings.

That opt-in promise is now under scrutiny. Researchers at Northeastern University found network traffic that looked like ACR tracking on Samsung's Tizen TVs even after tracking was turned off, Ars Technica reported. Here is what is confirmed, what is not and how to limit what your TV shares.

Key facts

• Samsung says ACR can collect viewing history, such as which programs you watched and for how long.
• It can also gather your IP address and identifiers tied to the TV, such as the Personalized Service ID, Samsung says.
• Samsung says you can opt out of ACR at any time in the Settings menu, on every smart TV it makes.
• On Tizen, the Northeastern tests flagged ACR-like traffic in all 30 measurements of Samsung's own streaming apps, even with tracking off, Ars Technica reported.
• Texas reached an agreement with Samsung that requires express consent from Texas consumers before ACR viewing data is collected or processed.

Background

ACR works by grabbing screenshots or short audio clips from a smart TV and sending them to remote servers, Ars Technica reported. That data is then used for tasks such as measuring audiences and targeting ads, according to Ars Technica.

Samsung's smart TV privacy supplement says it shares short audio or video clips of the current show with outside companies. Those providers send back content or ads timed to match what is playing, Samsung says. The company says owners can switch off these interactive marketing features in the settings menu.

The Northeastern study looked at eight TV operating systems running on 12 smart TVs, Ars Technica reported. Those TVs came from 10 makers, Samsung among them, Ars Technica reported. The team ran 5,943 controlled experiments, according to Ars Technica. The systems in the study account for roughly 95 percent of the ones in use in the U.S., said Ilgar Mammadov, the paper's lead author.

Beyond the streaming apps, ACR-like traffic remained after opt-out in 41 of 60 measurements while the Tizen TVs were showing antenna broadcasts. Traffic also kept flowing in 18 of 30 HDMI measurements, though encryption kept the researchers from seeing what was inside. "Their opt-out choice is not reflected in the TV's behavior," Mammadov said.

Regulators have looked at this issue before. The FTC said in 2017 that Vizio had used ACR on its TVs to gather viewer data without consent, Ars Technica reported. To resolve the charges, Vizio paid $2.2 million, according to Ars Technica.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Samsung, Sony, LG, TCL and Hisense under the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Ars Technica reported. The suits sought up to $10,000 in damages per violation, according to Ars Technica. Paxton's suit claimed that opting out of ACR on a Samsung TV took about 15 or more clicks spread over four or more menus.

Under its deal with Texas, Samsung must also show clear, conspicuous disclosures and add consent screens. Paxton's cases against Sony, LG, Hisense and TCL are still going.

What it means for you

If you clicked through setup quickly, you may have turned on ACR without meaning to. Texas alleged that the setup screen featured just one prominent button, which agreed to everything at once.

People who plug in cable boxes, game consoles or other gear over HDMI should note that the Tizen tests found ACR-like traffic in HDMI cases after opt-out. What that encrypted traffic holds is not known. It could be a bug, data that gets thrown away or ongoing collection, and no source has said which.

Samsung's support page says, "Samsung does not record or watch any of the content displayed on your Smart TV." Its privacy supplement, though, says clips are shared with outside firms for matched ads while that feature is enabled.

Microphones are a separate question. In a 2015 statement, Samsung said its voice recognition gathers commands only after a person hits the button to activate it and speaks into the remote's mic. Samsung said then that some of those commands are passed to Nuance Communications, an outside provider.

Through the SmartThings app, Samsung's Family Care and Pet Care tools analyze nearby sounds like crying or barking and send the owner an alert. Samsung said its Vision AI TVs from 2025 rely on on-device AI to notice when a baby cries or a dog barks, and can show live video from a linked camera. Samsung's pages describe these features as alerts. Whether they feed any ad system is not known.

Samsung's Click to Search feature also identifies scenes, shows and actors on screen and suggests related content.

Practical steps

• To opt out of ACR, switch off Viewing Information Services under Settings, Samsung says. Exact menu paths differ by model year.
• Then turn off Interest-Based Ads too; Texas said that option lives in a separate area of the menus.
• If you do not use them, Samsung's privacy supplement says you can turn off Voice Recognition data collection and interactive marketing features.
• For a stronger step, the Northeastern team suggests taking the TV off your network and using an outside streaming device that does not run ACR, Ars Technica reported.
• The researchers also shared addresses and domains that can be blocked to keep devices from reaching ACR services, according to Ars Technica.

What happens next

Ars Technica said it had asked Samsung to explain why its Tizen TVs contact ACR endpoints with tracking disabled, but got no reply before publishing. Samsung had not explained the traffic publicly as of that report.

The Northeastern researchers urged TV makers to spell out in their privacy policies each input that ACR monitors, such as HDMI, apps, antenna and screen mirroring, Ars Technica reported. In Texas, Paxton's cases against the other TV makers continue.

FAQ

Does Samsung say it records what is on my screen? Its support page denies that Samsung records or watches what is shown on screen. But its privacy supplement says clips can be shared for matched ads when that option is on.

Is ACR required? No. Samsung says ACR is optional and works only for owners who accepted the Viewing Information Services notice.

Does opting out work? It is unclear. In one study, the Northeastern team kept seeing ACR-like traffic on Tizen sets with tracking off, though it could not read the encrypted data, Ars Technica reported.

Does my TV listen through its microphone? Samsung said in 2015 that voice commands are collected only after you press the button and speak into the remote.