Your smart TV is a portal for convenient and seemingly endless entertainment. You can watch your favorite shows and movies, play video games online or via a connected gaming console, and set up music, workstation, and fitness routines.
With all that accessibility and functionality, however, comes plenty of risk. The more you use your TV to enjoy media and support your day, the more data is created. Spyware and tracking is increasingly savvy, and smart TVs are set up to learn as much about you as possible. Here’s how to protect yourself against the increasing threat.
Turn off tracking and viewing data collection
Don’t let your TV follow your habits
The first thing you should do is check all your privacy and tracking settings to turn everything that is optional off immediately. There are likely a few different means your smart TV is collecting your viewing data and entertainment interests, and they aren’t always easy to find or understand. Check the settings under the General or Privacy tab for options and go entry by entry and read in detail everything you find. Your TV is going to try to confuse you into thinking these settings are both necessary and innocuous. They are not.
An important tracking feature to turn off is called Automated Content Recognition. This is the process by which your TV identifies what you are watching, and for how long. It uses cues to discern what’s actually on the screen, employing an algorithm to compare against an extensive database. Most significantly, by knowing what’s on your TV, it can infer your identity. The types of shows you watch and content you enjoy can paint a picture of your gender, age, political affiliation, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation.
Another feature to turn off involves targeted advertisements and suggested content. When this is on, your TV will push you towards certain shows, claiming it’s only suggesting titles that it thinks you might like. While there may be some recommendations that are appealing, most of what will happen is going to be unnecessary and annoying. The operating system will push what it wants and clutter your home page.
Quiz
TV spyware and smart TV privacy
Trivia challenge
Think your TV is just watching shows? Test how much you really know about smart TV tracking and staying safe.
PrivacySecuritySmart TVsBest PracticesSurveillance
What is the term used to describe the technology built into smart TVs that automatically identifies and reports what content you are watching?
Correct! Automatic content recognition, or ACR, is software embedded in most modern smart TVs that silently identifies the content on screen by matching snippets against a database. It works regardless of whether you are streaming, watching cable, or playing a Blu-ray.
Not quite — the correct term is automatic content recognition, or ACR. This technology is built into TVs from brands like Samsung, LG, and Vizio, and it operates quietly in the background, sending viewing data back to manufacturers and their advertising partners.
Which major smart TV manufacturer was fined $2.2 million by the FTC in 2017 for collecting viewing data without proper user consent?
Correct! Vizio was fined $2.2 million by the FTC after it was found to have collected detailed viewing data from 11 million TVs without adequately disclosing this to customers. The settlement required Vizio to make its data collection practices much more transparent going forward.
The correct answer is Vizio. In 2017, the FTC fined Vizio $2.2 million for tracking viewing habits on around 11 million smart TVs and selling that data to third parties — all without obtaining proper informed consent from users.
What is generally considered the most effective first step to reduce smart TV data collection when setting up a new device?
Correct! Most smart TVs present data-sharing options during the initial setup wizard, and opting out at this stage is the most direct and effective way to limit collection. Many users skip through these screens quickly, unknowingly agreeing to extensive data sharing.
The best first step is to opt out of ACR and data collection during the initial setup. Manufacturers are now required to present these options, but they are often buried in long terms and conditions or pre-ticked by default, so reading carefully before tapping ‘agree’ really matters.
Smart TV ACR technology can track viewing data even when you are watching content from which of the following sources?
Correct! ACR works by analysing the actual pixels on the TV screen, which means it can identify content regardless of how it gets there — streaming apps, a connected Blu-ray player, a games console, or a cable box are all fair game.
The correct answer is that ACR can track content from any source displayed on screen. Because the technology samples what is visually on the display rather than intercepting a data stream, it captures content from external HDMI devices just as easily as from built-in apps.
In 2019, the FBI issued a public warning about smart TV security. What was the primary vulnerability they highlighted?
Correct! The FBI’s Portland field office warned consumers that bad actors — as well as TV manufacturers themselves — could potentially exploit built-in cameras and microphones on smart TVs to spy on users in their own homes. They recommended covering cameras with black tape as a precaution.
The FBI’s 2019 warning focused on the risk that hackers and even TV manufacturers could gain access to built-in cameras and microphones on smart TVs. The bureau specifically recommended placing black tape over any camera lens and checking TV settings for microphone controls.
Which network security practice is recommended to help isolate a smart TV from more sensitive devices like laptops and smartphones on your home network?
Correct! Placing your smart TV on a separate guest or dedicated IoT Wi-Fi network means that even if the TV is compromised, attackers cannot easily pivot to your laptop, phone, or NAS drive. Most modern routers support this network segmentation feature.
The recommended practice is to put your smart TV on a separate guest or IoT network. This isolates it from your more sensitive devices, so a compromised TV cannot be used as a stepping stone to access your personal data on other gadgets sharing the same network.
What does the privacy setting often labelled ‘Samba Interactive TV’ or ‘Nielsen Measurement’ refer to on many smart TVs?
Correct! Labels like ‘Samba Interactive TV’ and ‘Nielsen Measurement’ refer to third-party data analytics companies that partner with TV manufacturers to collect and monetise your viewing habits. These can often be disabled in the TV’s privacy or account settings.
These labels actually refer to third-party audience measurement and ACR services embedded by TV manufacturers as part of commercial data-sharing agreements. Companies like Samba TV pay manufacturers to include their software, and the collected viewing data is then sold to advertisers and media companies.
If you want to keep using smart TV streaming apps but minimise tracking, which combination of steps offers the strongest privacy protection?
Correct! Disabling ACR removes the most pervasive layer of passive tracking, turning off personalised ads cuts down on data being used to profile you, and reviewing app permissions ensures no individual app is quietly accessing your microphone or location without good reason.
The strongest practical approach is to disable ACR, opt out of personalised advertising, and regularly audit app permissions. A PIN or screen lock does nothing to stop background data collection, and factory resets only offer a temporary fix before the same data collection resumes once you log back in.
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While you’re at it, turn off any optional ad banners or automatic video playback features; they’re tedious.
Create a separate profile for entertainment
An anonymous email address will protect privacy
An easy way to protect both your identity and your sanity is by creating a separate email account for all your entertainment-related needs. A unique email that does not include your name or notable information (like your address) can help keep vital information safe and prevent cross-contamination with other areas of your life.
A unique shared email address is a great way to approach using smart systems and streaming services within a shared household. It allows for more convenience while also minimizing risk when multiple people are using apps.
If you use a main email address, especially one with your name on it, you risk professional and personal interference from your entertainment services. A data leak from an operating system or TV manufacturer can compromise your information related to your identity and your business.
Additionally, with a unique email, it can be harder for advertisers, and anyone else, to link your entertainment choices to your personal identity. Even if you turn off all those tracking features, if the email associated with your TV is your first name and last name, you’re running the risk of being found out.
Avoid integrating smart devices
Be mindful of excess app usage
TV manufacturers don’t just want you using a smart TV for entertainment. They seek to create a device to operate as a central hub for everything in your home. From lighting to appliances, the thermostat to your doorbell, the smart TV aims to help you to monitor, program, and inspect everything going on in your house. Samsung’s SmartThings, LG’s ThinQ, and Google Home are among those ecosystems that allow you to control your many smart devices directly from your TV. But you shouldn’t let your TV in on what’s happening in your space.
The connectivity of everything in your home is the issue. Your devices and TV are linked together, and your TV is linked to a specific account. And all that information can create a profile of you, figuring out your income, the size of your home, and how many people live in it. What’s more, every app and service that you pull into your TV’s orbit all has their own privacy concerns. Each may share data with other parties and each can have its own breaches. When one part of this vast network fails, everything becomes compromised.
The best thing you can do when you use your TV is try to isolate it as much as possible. It doesn’t need to be your smart home central command or your personal gym.
Don’t use smart assistants or motion sensors
Resist the temptation to automate
It’s important to be mindful of what features you use and how you use them. Specifically, extras that are designed to make operating the smart TV easier and more convenient should give you pause. I recommend disabling any smart assistants that may make themselves available.
Whether it’s via your remote or a connected device, voice recognition services can go a long way in painting a picture of who you are. There are also privacy concerns with any device listening in on your conversations; that consumers are told devices “listen” for a wake word but don’t listen the rest of the time is an argument that strains credulity. Take the few extra moments to manually scroll to a title instead of using voice control.
Similarly, be mindful of motion sensors and environmental scanners. Some TVs, particularly art TV models, use sensors to activate and deactivate an ambient mode. An art gallery may appear when people are walking around but then turn off when the room is empty. While this feature can’t identify you individually, it still collects data on how you use your TV.
Lastly, an emerging concern is gesture recognition, which allows users to control their TV with simple hand movements. Motion sensors and AI technology work together to determine your movements so that you can operate your TV without having to grab a remote. In order to track your movements, your TV needs a camera. These cameras aren’t getting a clear picture of you, but they are gathering data and behavioral tendencies. And all that information can create a profile of your habits even if you can’t capture your image.
Upgrade to ad-free subscription tiers
Pay more for fewer intrusions
Every streaming service wants you to watch ads, which is why prices keep going up on the premium tiers. Netflix and others make a lot more money off of a viewer who pays a lower monthly fee for an ad-supported service than they do off of someone who pays a bigger monthly fee for ad-free viewing, especially if you watch a lot of TV and are in important consumer demographics.
When you pay to remove ads, you put a dent in the process of identifying you and your viewing habits. There are some features that are eliminated or diminished; it’s harder to implement ad-based profiling when you’re not watching ads. There is more external tracking of your behavior when you’re using an ad-supported tier; there is also less third-party tracking.
This move won’t completely isolate you; the platform you’re using will still keep a profile of your interests and get a good understanding of who you are, but it does curb excess monitoring. You can also embrace the convenience of not having to wait through commercials to watch what you want.
