Samsung TVs stop spying on viewers in Texas. Here’s how to disable ACR anywhere

Samsung has settled a lawsuit with the Texas Attorney General over how its smart TVs collect and monetize viewing data using Automated Content Recognition (ACR). As part of the settlement, Samsung agreed to stop collecting ACR data from Texans without explicit, informed consent and to rewrite its on‑screen privacy prompts and dialogs.

Texas Attorney General (AG) Paxton stated:

“I commend Samsung for being one of the first smart TV companies in the world to make these important changes.”

The Texas AG sued Samsung and other TV makers (Hisense, Sony, LG, TCL) over ACR-based “mass surveillance programs” monitoring what people watch and building profiles used for advertising and monetization.

ACR works by:

Taking tiny samples of the sound or picture from what’s on your screen (a few seconds at a time).
Turning those samples into a kind of fingerprint (a compact pattern that uniquely represents that content).
Comparing that fingerprint to a giant database of known shows, movies, channels, and ads to find a match.

If it finds a match, the system knows “this TV user is watching Episode X of Show Y at time Z” or “this ad just played on this device.”

Paxton argues that customers did not meaningfully consent to this data collection, which he calls “watchware,” framing it as deliberate monitoring, rather than an accident.

Samsung also faces a federal class action in New York. Plaintiffs claim Samsung TVs track, store, and sell viewing data to companies such as Google and X (Twitter) without informed consent, in violation of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act and various state privacy laws.

The New York complaint further alleges that Samsung’s ACR records image and audio every 500 ms regardless of source (broadcast, streaming apps, or PC monitor use), and that Samsung’s privacy notice downplays the scope of that data collection by referring to “processing” viewing history.

How to disable ACR

If you’d prefer to limit or disable ACR-style monitoring of your watching behavior, here’s where to look. Menu names may vary slightly depending on the model and year.

Samsung

Samsung has agreed to modify its consent and disclosure practices for Texas residents as part of the settlement. Users elsewhere can manually adjust these settings:

Press Home on the remote.
Go to Settings → Support → Terms & Privacy → Privacy Choices (or Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Terms & Privacy / Privacy Choices).
Turn Viewing Information Services off (this is Samsung’s ACR).
Optional hardening: In the same menu area, disable Interest-Based Advertising and any Voice Recognition Services if you don’t want voice data sent off‑box.

LG TVs (webOS)

Press Settings (gear icon).
Go to All Settings → General → System → Additional Settings.
Set Live Plus to off (this is LG’s ACR layer).
In the same or nearby menu, enable Limit Ad Tracking (or similar option) to reduce ad profiling.

Vizio TVs

Press Menu on the remote.
Go to System → Reset & Admin.
Turn Viewing Data off (this disables Vizio’s ACR and viewing logs).

Sony TVs (Google TV / Android TV)

Many Sony TVs use Samba Interactive TV as the ACR component.

Press Home.
For newer Google TV models:
- Go to Settings → All Settings → Privacy; toggle Samba Interactive TV off.
For models using usage‑diagnostics style controls:
- Go to Settings → Device Preferences → Usage & Diagnostics and turn all reporting off.

This disables the Samba ACR integration and general telemetry used for ad/experience tuning.

Roku TVs (TCL, Hisense, etc. running Roku OS)

From the Roku home screen, go to Settings → Privacy.
Under Advertising:
- Uncheck / toggle off Personalize ads (this stops use of your advertising ID for interest‑based ads).
- Optionally select Reset advertising ID to rotate the ID.
Under Smart TV Experience (if present):
- Turn off Use info from TV inputs to stop ACR on HDMI and other external sources.

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