Scientists have discovered that LG and Samsung smart TVs use Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology to track user views. ACR allows TVs to compare the content they are displaying with a database and display relevant ads, SecurityLab reports .
The researchers conducted a series of experiments examining ACR performance across different viewing scenarios, including linear TV, streaming, and HDMI connections. They also examined the impact of privacy settings on ACR performance and found that opting out of tracking stopped traffic to ACR servers.
The study found that ACR works even when using a smart TV as an external display via HDMI, taking screenshots several times per second. However, the data is transmitted to the server every 15 seconds. Interestingly, when watching streaming services such as Netflix or YouTube, ACR data is not transmitted.
The researchers also found that signing in to an account does not affect ACR’s performance, and that opting out of ads and tracking completely stops sending data to ACR’s servers. In addition, ACR uses different servers for each geographic area to comply with local privacy laws.
The study revealed differences in ACR behavior between LG and Samsung TVs. For example, LG TVs send data to a single domain owned by Alphonso, while Samsung TVs send data to multiple domains associated with the Samsung Ads advertising division.
The researchers noted that while it is possible to disable ACR in privacy settings, the process can be complex and requires navigating through numerous menu sections.
Earlier , it was revealed that the Pixel 9 smartphone secretly transmits data to Google servers every 15 minutes.