How to Disable ACR to Prevent Your TV From Tracking What You Watch
If I told you that your TV is watching everything you do to collect data and advertising, it probably wouldn’t shock you. After all, it is 2025; we are used to a general lack of privacy. However, it’s not cool, and it turns out that you can stop it (even if your TV manufacturer has allowed you to do so).
So how can you stop your smart TV from tracking what you watch so you can safely go back to those days of watching Netflix or playing video games? You need to disable ACR.
How does your TV track what you watch?
Meet ACR: Short for automatic content recognition, this technology allows your Smart TV to watch what you’re watching, detect what you’re watching, and use that information to recommend new content and show you more relevant ads. Your TV watches moments in a show or movie ( sometimes including audio ) and sends that information to a database to match it with a library of content.
ACR does this by literally taking screenshots of what’s happening on your screen about twice a second . This allows you to track everything, whether you’re using Smart TV apps, a Blu-ray player, a device like Apple TV or PlayStation – whatever you’re showing on your TV, ACR can watch and report.
Most major TV manufacturers include ACR tracking in their devices. After Vizio got into trouble for not properly disclosing the amount of data they were stealing from customers, TV manufacturers began including these settings in initial installation agreements. If you’re like me, you accidentally agreed to this tracking without even realizing it because you were too focused on setting up your TV to bother reading the legal document.
If you have a smart TV, it likely supports ACR tracking, which you can disable. However, all TV manufacturers call this option differently. I’ll cover some of the leading brands, what they each call their ACR settings, and where to find them. However, these brands are constantly changing their settings menus and settings names, so even if you have a TV from the company listed here, my instructions may not apply to you.
If these instructions don’t help, your best bet is to Google your specific TV model and find out where to find its ACR settings. You may be able to find a manual from the manufacturer or a step-by-step guide from someone who has access to your TV and knows where to find the settings. But if you have LG, Samsung, Sony, Hisense or TCL, follow the instructions below and advise our sister site ZDNet :
How to disable ACR on a smart TV
LG TVs
If you have an LG smart TV (like I do), your ACR settings will be under Live Plus. The setting sounds innocent enough, but it’s most likely designed for you to leave it on. You’ll find this option in Settings > General > System > Advanced Settings > Live Plus . While you’re here, you can also turn on “Limit Ad Tracking” in the Advertising section.
Samsung TVs
Let’s take a look at another popular TV brand – Samsung. ACR options can be found in the sidebar menu under Privacy Options > Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy . Just be sure to turn off “View Information Services.”
Sony TVs
Sony stores ACR settings under Settings > Initial Setup > Samba Interactive TV . From here, disable Samba Interactive TV. You can also find ad tracking features under About > Advertising > Ad Personalization .
Hisense TVs
Hisense stores your ACR under Settings > System > Privacy . Its name will depend on your specific model, but it may be called “Smart TV Experience” or “View Information Services.” TCL stores its settings under Settings > Privacy > Smart TV Features . Here, disable “Use information from TV inputs.”