How to lock down your smart TV's privacy settings
Viewing trackers, voice assistants and ad personalisation are often on by default. A brand-by-brand checklist to turn off what you don't need.
Recent research into LG smart TVs logging speech in standby is a reminder that televisions are now data-collecting computers. Follow these steps to cut down what yours shares. Menu names vary by brand and model year, so use the search function in your TV’s settings if you can’t find an option.
1. Turn off viewing tracking (ACR)
Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) identifies what’s on your screen, including from other devices such as set-top boxes and games consoles, and reports it for advertising and analytics.
Look for settings named:
- LG: “Live Plus” or viewing information settings, and user agreements under General or Support
- Samsung: “Viewing Information Services” under Terms & Privacy
- Sony / Google TV: “Samba Interactive TV” or “Usage & Diagnostics”
- Roku TVs: “Use info from TV inputs” under Privacy → Smart TV Experience
- Vizio: “Viewing Data”
Turn it off.
2. Limit ad personalisation
Find “Interest-based advertising”, “Limit ad tracking” or “Ads personalisation” and switch personalisation off. Where available, reset your advertising ID too.
3. Decide what to do about voice
If you don’t use voice control:
- Turn off the voice assistant and any always-listening or hands-free voice mode.
- Many remotes have a push-to-talk microphone button. Using only that is safer than a microphone that listens for a wake word.
- Some TVs have a physical microphone switch. Use it.
If you do use voice, check for settings that store voice recordings and turn off storage or delete history where the option exists.
4. Review the agreements you accepted
During setup, most TVs ask you to accept several separate agreements: terms of service, viewing information, voice, advertising. Many let you withdraw consent later under Support, Terms & Privacy or User Agreements. Withdraw anything optional.
5. Check network and connection features
- Disable features that let the TV wake over the network or stay connected in standby, if you don’t need them.
- Turn off device discovery or home network scanning options you don’t use.
- Keep the TV’s software updated. Security fixes arrive through updates.
6. The strongest option: take it offline
A TV that isn’t connected to the internet can’t upload anything. If you watch through a streaming stick or console, consider not connecting the TV itself to Wi-Fi at all and using it purely as a screen. You lose the TV’s built-in apps, and you gain a lot of privacy.
A note on trade-offs
Some features you switch off, such as recommendations, voice search and “continue watching” on the home screen, may stop working or get worse. That’s the trade. Decide which conveniences are worth the data.
