Your smart TV is watching what you watch.

Most smart TVs run Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) by default: the TV periodically fingerprints what's on screen — from any device plugged into it, not just its own apps — and sends that back to build an ad profile. A real, per-brand setting turns it off.

Not posted yet — check back soon.

The exact clicks

Samsung: open Settings, go to 'Device Preferences' (or 'General' on some models), then 'Usage & Diagnostics', and turn off the data-reporting toggles there — this disables Samsung's ACR/Samba integration.
LG: open Settings (the gear icon), find 'Live Plus' (LG's ACR feature) and switch it off; nearby, also turn on 'Limit Ad Tracking' to reduce ad profiling further.
Vizio: open the TV's menu, go to 'System' then 'Reset & Admin', and turn 'Viewing Data' off — this disables Vizio's ACR and viewing logs.
Roku (built into many TVs and Roku streaming devices): from the Roku home screen, go to Settings, then 'Privacy', and turn off 'Personalize ads' — this stops interest-based ad tracking tied to your device.
Don't have one of these exact brands? Look in your TV's settings for anything named 'Viewing Data', 'ACR', 'Live Plus', 'Interest-Based Ads', or 'Usage & Diagnostics' — the feature exists under a different name on most smart TVs.
Understand what this does and doesn't do: turning this off stops the TV from reporting what's on your screen going forward. It doesn't delete data already collected, and it doesn't turn off ads themselves — only the profile-building behind them.

What changes

Verified live (17.9.2026) against multiple independent 2026 consumer-tech and cybersecurity sources, cross-referenced: how ACR works, its typical check-in frequency (Samsung roughly once a minute, LG roughly every 15 seconds), and the real per-brand opt-out menu paths.
Backed by active, current 2026 legal action confirming this is a live issue, not stale: Texas's Attorney General sued Samsung, Sony, LG, Hisense, and TCL over ACR data collection (Samsung settled February 2026); Kentucky passed the first state law requiring opt-in consent for ACR in March 2026.
A plain-language, personal-privacy topic — a deliberate exception to this channel's usual demand-report-driven topic selection, made explicitly per the 16.9.2026 reach-first content decision (see channel/content-memory.md), same reasoning as episodes 36-38.

What it will not do

Exact menu wording and location can vary by TV model year and firmware version — this guide describes what to look for, not a guaranteed identical screen for every viewer.
Turning ACR off does not delete data already collected and reported before you changed the setting.
This episode covers ACR specifically, not other data a smart TV or its apps may collect (account data, app usage inside a streaming app, voice assistant recordings), which have their own separate settings.

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