Did you know your TV knows and shares information about you?
"How to Turn Off Smart TV Snooping Features."
All smart TVs—from LG, Samsung, TCL, and other brands—collect personal data. Here's how to use privacy settings to limit surveillance.
You may not be aware of it, but your TV knows—and shares—a lot of information about you.
Nearly all new sets are smart TVs, which connect to the internet, making it easy to stream videos from services such as Hulu and Netflix. The streaming apps on your TV may collect data on you, even if you don’t ever sign in. And your smart TV will also collect information for its manufacturer, possibly including your location, which apps you open, and more.
These companies can also capture voice data when you use the mic on a smart TV remote, and they can combine all the info they’ve gathered with data they collect about you from outside companies.
Consumer Reports began reporting on this type of data collection way back in 2015. We’ve been analyzing smart TV data practices in our labs since 2018, and we incorporate our findings into all of our TV ratings each year.
We’ve found that you can’t stop all the data collection, but you can reduce the snooping by turning off a technology called automatic content recognition, or ACR. This smart TV technology attempts to identify every show you watch—including programs and movies you get via cable, over-the-air broadcasts, streaming services, and even Blu-ray discs.
ACR, which goes by various names, can help your TV recommend shows to you. But the data can also be used for targeting ads to you and your family, and for other purposes. And it isn’t always easy to review or delete this data later.
More Information at:
https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/privacy/how-to-turn-off-smart-tv-snooping-features-a4840102036/
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