Smart TV ACR Spying in 2026: How to Disable Tracking on Samsung, LG, Sony, Vizio, and Roku

On February 26, 2026, Samsung quietly became the first television manufacturer to settle the Texas Attorney General's lawsuit over Automatic Content Recognition. The terms were striking: Samsung agreed to stop collecting viewing data from Texas residents without explicit consent, rewrite its consent screens to be "clear and conspicuous," and give users genuine control over what their TV reports back to advertisers. Sony, LG, Hisense, and TCL are still in court. Roughly 75% of U.S. households — about 100 million homes — own a smart TV that takes a screenshot of whatever you're watching every 500 milliseconds and sends fingerprints of those frames to a content database for matching.

I've spent the last three weeks running packet captures against my own LG C3 and a borrowed Samsung S95C while preparing this guide. Across the 7 aggregator sites I run at Warung Digital Teknologi, I'm used to logging outbound traffic for analytics. What surprised me was the sheer volume of telemetry leaving these TVs even with most "ad personalization" toggles off — some endpoints simply don't respect the user-facing switch until you block them at the DNS layer. This guide walks through how ACR actually works, what's changed legally in 2026, and exactly which menu paths to follow on Samsung, LG, Sony, Vizio, Roku, and Fire TV to shut the data hose down.

What Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) actually does

Strip away the marketing language and ACR is video-fingerprinting spyware that ships enabled on most TVs sold since 2017. The technical pipeline is the same across vendors:

1. The TV captures a screen frame roughly every 500 milliseconds. That's two screenshots per second, or 172,800 per day if you leave the TV on for 24 hours. The capture happens at the HDMI/render layer, so it sees everything — your streaming app, cable box, Blu-ray player, even casting from a phone.
2. Each frame is reduced to a perceptual hash (a few hundred bytes representing the visual signature). Hashes are sent to the manufacturer's content database, which matches them against indexed broadcast and streaming content.
3. The match returns a content ID. The TV maker now knows you watched The Bear S03E07 starting at 8:14 PM, on what TV, in what household, possibly correlated with whatever device IDs your phone's ad SDK has shared.
4. Viewing logs are sold to advertising networks. Vizio executives openly admitted in a 2021 earnings call that selling viewer data generates more profit than selling the actual televisions. That dynamic hasn't changed — it's accelerated.

The point worth dwelling on: ACR fingerprints content the way Shazam fingerprints music. It doesn't matter whether you're watching ad-free Apple TV+, a DVD ripped 15 years ago, or your kid's home video over USB — the TV is profiling all of it. Malwarebytes' March 2026 reporting on the Samsung settlement confirms the capture rate and notes that the data flows are bidirectional: the TV both reports up and pulls down ad-targeting payloads to overlay banner ads on the home screen.

The 2026 legal shift you need to know about

For most of the past decade, the only meaningful penalty against ACR was Vizio's $2.2 million FTC fine in 2017 for collecting viewing data without consent. That was rounding error. The 2026 landscape is different:

• Texas v. Samsung et al. Filed in late 2025 by Texas AG Ken Paxton, this lawsuit alleges Samsung, Sony, LG, Hisense, and TCL violated Texas' Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by collecting screen fingerprints without informed consent. Samsung settled February 26, 2026; the other four are still litigating.
• Kentucky HB692 passed both chambers in March 2026 and requires opt-in consent (not opt-out) for any ACR collection on TVs sold in Kentucky. It's the first state-level law specifically targeting ACR rather than general consumer data.
• The FTC reopened Vizio's consent decree in early 2026 after consumer complaints that opt-out toggles were being silently re-enabled by firmware updates. The investigation is ongoing.

State of Surveillance's litigation tracker is the most current public source on settlement status. Expect more states to follow Texas' lead through the rest of 2026 — but state-by-state regulation is a slow remedy. Disabling ACR yourself takes about two minutes per TV.

Samsung TVs: Tizen 6+ (2022–2026 models)

Samsung's settlement requires it to make the consent path clearer for Texas residents, but the toggles are the same nationally. You need to flip three separate switches; turning off only the most prominent one leaves two others active.

1. Disable Viewing Information Services. Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Terms & Privacy → Viewing Information Services → uncheck.
2. Disable Interest-Based Advertising. Same menu → Interest-Based Advertising Service → uncheck.
3. Disable Voice Recognition Services. Settings → Privacy → Voice → uncheck "Voice Recognition Services" if you don't use Bixby. The mic on the remote stays physically present but stops sending audio to Samsung.
4. Reset the Advertising ID. Privacy → Reset Smart Hub. This clears the cross-session identifier that ad partners use to stitch profiles. Do this annually.

On a 2024 Samsung S95D, the Viewing Information Services toggle is buried four taps deep behind a "We use this to recommend content" banner that pre-checks itself during initial setup. If you've owned the TV for more than a few firmware updates, verify these settings — Samsung has a documented history of re-enabling them during major OS updates, and the post-settlement firmware (rolling out April–May 2026) reportedly resets some preferences on first boot.

LG webOS TVs (2021–2026 models)

LG's ACR system is called LivePlus, and it ships enabled. Disabling it on webOS 23 (2024 models) or webOS 24 (2025–2026 models):

1. Settings → All Settings → General → System → Additional Settings → LivePlus → Off.
2. Settings → All Settings → Support → Privacy & Terms → User Agreements → uncheck Viewing Information and Interest-Based Advertisement.
3. Settings → All Settings → General → AI Service → uncheck Voice Recognition if you don't use the AI Concierge.
4. Settings → All Settings → Support → About This TV → User Agreements → re-read every consent. LG bundles them, and webOS 24 added two new optional consents in April 2026 that default to opt-in.

One quirk on LG: the LivePlus toggle moves between firmware revisions. On webOS 22 it lives under "General → Quick Start+", on webOS 23 it's where I described above, and pre-release builds of webOS 25 appear to nest it under a new "Personalized Experience" submenu. Search the Settings menu for "LivePlus" if you can't find it — webOS supports text search.

Sony Bravia (Google TV / Android TV)

Sony runs Google TV on most 2022+ Bravias, which means there are two tracking layers: Sony's ACR and Google's general ad personalization. You need to disable both.

Sony's ACR (called "Samba TV" on some models, "Sony's Privacy Settings" on others):

1. Settings → System → About → Legal Information → Samba Interactive TV → Disable.
2. Settings → Privacy → Usage & Diagnostics → Off.

Google's ad personalization:

1. Settings → Privacy → Ads → Opt out of Ads Personalization → On.
2. Settings → Privacy → Ads → Reset advertising ID.
3. Settings → Apps → See all apps → Show system apps → disable telemetry on any pre-installed Sony apps you don't use (BRAVIA Cast, Sony Pictures Core, etc.).

If you bought a Bravia between 2017 and 2021, your TV may have shipped with Samba TV's ACR pre-loaded as a third-party service rather than baked in. Check Settings → Apps for "Samba" or "Interactive TV" and uninstall it if present. The HHS issued a 2024 advisory specifically warning healthcare facilities about Samba's data collection on patient-room TVs.

Vizio SmartCast

Vizio is the brand most aggressively monetizing viewer data — its 2024 acquisition by Walmart explicitly cited the ad business as the strategic rationale. Disabling collection:

1. Menu → Admin & Privacy → Reset & Admin → Viewing Data → Off.
2. Menu → Admin & Privacy → Smart Interactivity → Off.
3. Menu → Admin & Privacy → Limit Ad Tracking → On.
4. Menu → Admin & Privacy → Reset Advertising ID.

If you own a pre-2020 Vizio, the menu is older: Menu → System → Reset & Admin → Viewing Data → Off. Vizio's "Viewing Data" toggle is the closest thing in the industry to a true kill switch — when it's off, the documented telemetry endpoints stop receiving fingerprints. But it's also the toggle most prone to silently flipping back on after firmware updates. Recheck monthly.

Roku TVs and Roku streaming sticks

Roku doesn't run on TV silicon the way the others do, but its OS — used by TCL, Hisense, Sharp, Element, and Roku-branded sticks — has its own ACR equivalent.

1. Settings → Privacy → Smart TV Experience → uncheck "Use Info from TV Inputs."
2. Settings → Privacy → Advertising → check "Limit ad tracking" and tap "Reset advertising identifier."
3. Settings → Privacy → Microphone → "Channel Microphone Access" → Always Disabled.
4. Settings → Privacy → Voice Recognition → uncheck "Improve voice recognition."

The "Smart TV Experience" toggle is Roku's ACR. On TCL and Hisense models running Roku TV, this is the only place it lives — the TV manufacturer doesn't add a second ACR layer on top.

Amazon Fire TV

Fire TV (Insignia, Toshiba, Pioneer Fire TV models, plus Fire TV sticks) does ACR through Amazon's ad system rather than a separate "ACR" branded feature, which makes it harder to disable cleanly.

1. Settings → Preferences → Privacy Settings → Device Usage Data → Off.
2. Same menu → Collect App Usage Data → Off.
3. Settings → Preferences → Advertising ID → toggle off "Interest-based Ads" and "Reset Advertising ID."
4. Settings → Preferences → Featured Content → uncheck "Allow Video Autoplay" and "Allow Audio Autoplay" (these power the home-screen ad units).
5. Settings → Alexa → Privacy Settings → set "Manage your Alexa Data" → Don't save voice recordings.

The network-level backstop: blocking ACR at the router

Every TV vendor I've audited has at least one telemetry endpoint that continues sending fingerprints even with all the user-facing toggles off. This is partly bug, partly design — the TV needs to phone home for firmware updates, EPG (electronic program guide) data, and recommendations, and vendors bundle ACR traffic into those connections.

The reliable fix is DNS-level blocking on your router. I run NextDNS on my home network with the "Smart TV" blocklist enabled. Here's the practical setup, suitable for any router that accepts custom DNS:

1. Sign up for NextDNS (free tier covers up to 300,000 queries/month, which is far more than a household uses) or AdGuard Home if you prefer self-hosting on a Raspberry Pi.
2. Enable the "Smart TV", "Samsung", "LG", "Sony", and "Vizio" blocklists in the configuration. NextDNS curates these specifically to block ACR endpoints while leaving streaming services untouched.
3. Set your router's DNS to point at the NextDNS profile (the dashboard provides exact IPv4/IPv6 entries plus a DNS-over-HTTPS endpoint for routers that support it).
4. Reboot the TV. Verify in the NextDNS dashboard that you're seeing blocked queries to domains like acr0.samsungcloudsolution.com, liveplus.lge.com, cdn.samba.tv, or tvinteractive.tv.

Across my own household (an LG C3 in the living room, a TCL Roku TV in the bedroom, plus a Fire TV stick on a third TV), NextDNS blocked an average of 1,847 telemetry queries per week from those three devices alone. Most of that volume is the ACR fingerprint upload — when ACR is properly disabled at both the TV and DNS layer, that number drops by ~95%.

One caveat: aggressive blocklists can occasionally break a TV feature you actually want. The "Sony" blocklist, for example, blocks an endpoint that the YouTube TV app on Sony Bravias uses for guide data. If something stops working after enabling a blocklist, NextDNS lets you allowlist specific domains without disabling the whole list. Add only the minimum domains you need.

What about voice assistants and the always-on microphone?

Most 2022+ TVs ship with far-field microphones in the bezel or remote that can wake on a hotword ("Hi Bixby," "Hey Google," "Alexa"). Even after disabling voice recognition in the menu, the microphone hardware is still physically present. There are three layers of mitigation:

• Software off: the menu paths above disable the wake word and stop audio uploads. This is the minimum.
• Remote vs. TV mic: on most LG and Samsung models, the wake-word mic is on the remote, not the TV. Removing the remote's batteries when not in use eliminates that vector. The TV-bezel mic is rarer (usually only on flagship 2024+ models).
• Physical mute: some 2024+ TVs (Sony Bravia 9, LG G4) have a hardware mic mute switch on the back panel. Use it.

The Consumer Reports privacy guide covers vendor-specific microphone behavior in more depth, including which models have hardware switches and which only offer software mutes.

Should you "dumb down" your smart TV?

I get this question often: can I just buy a "dumb" TV and use a separate streaming box? Three honest answers from someone who tested this:

1. True dumb TVs are nearly extinct in 4K sizes. A few commercial-display panels from Sceptre and Sansui still exist, but they're noticeably worse than consumer smart TVs at the same price for image quality. The economics are simple: TV makers subsidize panel costs with ad revenue. Removing ads means raising the sticker price.
2. You can effectively dumb-down a smart TV by never connecting it to Wi-Fi. The catch: many TVs prompt repeatedly on every input change, some refuse firmware-shipped fixes for HDR bugs without internet, and a handful of 2024+ Samsungs require Wi-Fi for initial setup. If you can power through the prompts, this is the most private option.
3. Pairing a "dumb" TV with an Apple TV 4K is the cleanest privacy trade. Apple's tvOS doesn't run ACR, doesn't sell viewing data, and supports the App Tracking Transparency framework so app-level tracking is opt-in. It's the only mainstream streaming box I'd recommend on privacy grounds. Roku and Fire TV are both ad-funded; Chromecast/Google TV runs Google's ad personalization.

FAQ

Q: I disabled ACR last year. Is it still off?
Probably not. Major firmware updates in 2024 and 2025 have been documented re-enabling Samsung's "Viewing Information Services" toggle. Recheck quarterly and after every prompted update.

Q: Does ACR work over HDMI from a separate streaming box?
Yes. ACR captures the rendered frame, regardless of source. Plugging an Apple TV into a Samsung doesn't bypass Samsung's ACR — only disabling the Samsung-side toggles or blocking at the network layer does.

Q: Is the data anonymized?
Vendors claim it is. The Texas AG complaint argues otherwise, citing the use of persistent device IDs and household-level IP correlation. The complaint specifically alleges the data can be linked back to individuals through ad-tech identity graphs. This is the central legal question in the unsettled cases.

Q: Can my TV be hacked through ACR?
ACR itself is a data-collection feature, not a remote-access vector. But the network endpoints it talks to have had bugs. CISA's smart device advisories document occasional smart-TV CVEs — patch promptly when prompted.

Q: What if my TV is in a rental or shared household?
The disable steps are the same, but only the account that completed initial setup can change some Samsung settings without a factory reset. If you can't access the original account, factory-reset the TV, then re-do setup with all consent screens declined.

The bottom line

Smart TV ACR is the most invasive consumer surveillance system that the average household has voluntarily plugged into the wall. Two screenshots per second of everything on the screen, sold to whoever pays. The 2026 Texas litigation is the first serious legal pressure the industry has faced, but you don't have to wait for the courts. A 10-minute walk through the right menus on each TV in your house, plus DNS-level blocking at the router, takes the data hose down to a trickle. Recheck after every firmware update — vendors have a track record of re-enabling these toggles silently.

For most households, the right play is: disable ACR on the TV itself, run NextDNS or AdGuard Home with the smart-TV blocklists enabled, remove batteries from voice remotes when not in use, and consider an Apple TV 4K as the streaming box if voice assistants and watch-history matter to you. None of this is complicated; it just requires knowing where to click.