Smart TVs collect user data via ACR content recognition, research finds
Researchers from universities in Spain, UK and USA found that Samsung and LG smart TVs use automatic content recognition (ACR) technology to capture screenshots or audio and send this data to manufacturer servers for user profiling and targeted advertising, even when the TV is used as a monitor for other devices.
What happened
Research by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, University College London, and University of California Davis found that Samsung and LG smart TVs use Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology to capture screenshots or audio of content displayed on screen.
The ACR system sends this data to manufacturer servers periodically to create detailed user profiles based on viewing habits, even when the television is used as an external monitor for a laptop or other HDMI-connected device. Samsung televisions sent this information every minute, while LG devices sent it every 15 seconds.
Reported impact
The collected data is used by manufacturers and advertisers to create targeted advertising campaigns based on the user's consumption patterns, such as sports viewing or other content preferences.
The research noted that users can disable ACR transmission in privacy settings, but the feature comes enabled by default and privacy configuration options are not intuitive or clearly presented.
Index analysis
The ACR technology functions similarly to Shazam, analyzing images or audio to identify content and generate a detailed profile of the viewer based on consumption routines.
The system monitors all content types displayed on the television, including live television, streaming platforms, video games connected via HDMI, and content from connected computers, without discriminating between content sources.
Governance controls
While ACR data transmission can be voluntarily disabled through television privacy settings, the default configuration enables this feature by default.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.