How to disable ACR on your TV - and why it makes such a big difference

Most modern smart TVs include Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), a background service that identifies what you watch in real time and builds a profile of your habits. That profile fuels highly targeted ads and, in the advertising market, has helped drive large spending — eMarketer estimated $18.6 billion in smart TV ad spend in 2022.

ACR works like a continuous Shazam: it captures screenshots, cross-references them with a media database and can identify thousands of images per hour, with The Markup reporting rates as high as 7,200 images per hour. The data linked to viewing can include email addresses, IP addresses and even a street address.

ACR usually runs quietly, so many viewers don’t realize it’s active. Turning it off can require patience and a number of menu taps, and doing so may also reduce some smart features. It’s worth checking your settings regularly, since software updates can sometimes return options to their defaults.

acr, smart tv, targeted ads, ad spend, privacy, screenshots, the markup, emarketer, ip address, email address