Smart televisions remain connected to the internet continuously, which has increased interest from manufacturers, operating system developers, and pre-installed app providers in these electronic devices, even if the user is not registered with them.

According to the German organization Consumer Reports, smart TVs allow companies to collect significant data regarding location, usage patterns, viewing habits, and content engagement, including when, where, and how users watch content.

Consumer Reports highlighted that fully stopping data collection on smart TVs cannot be achieved easily.

However, users can limit data gathering by deactivating the Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) feature and adjusting other settings.

ACR identifies what content is being watched by the user, regardless of its source, and can also recommend other content based on this analysis.

The organization noted that collected data could be used for targeted advertisements and other purposes.

Furthermore, verifying or removing such data is not always straightforward.

While ACR technology might not be used on all platforms, nearly all TV platforms utilize some form of data gathering technique.

Therefore, exploring and adjusting privacy and data protection settings within application settings is crucial to aligning with user preferences.

To disable ACR or other data measurements at the operating system level, users must typically navigate TV menus where they may find advertising identifiers, which, when reset regularly, can limit tracking.

It is important to note that ACR is not always labeled as such.

For example, on Samsung televisions, it is identified as 'Viewing Information Services' and is accessible under 'Settings/Support/Terms & Conditions.' On LG televisions, it appears under 'Live Plus,' accessible via 'All Settings/General/Additional Settings.'

On televisions from Panasonic, Philips, and Sony, disabling the 'Samba Interactive TV' function is recommended to stop data collection.

Many television manufacturers utilize Amazon's Fire TV or Google's Android/Google TV operating systems, which occasionally allow privacy settings adjustments during setup.

Therefore, users should modify default Fire TV privacy settings via 'Settings/Privacy Settings.'

Android/Google TV systems permit the disabling of location detection through 'Settings/Privacy/Location,' and users can cease content recommendations by turning off 'Web & App Activity' in the 'My Activity' section under Google Account.

Consumer Reports emphasized that there are variations in services, apps, and operating systems used by smart TV manufacturers in terms of menu architecture, settings options, and nomenclature.