Privacy education · November 9, 2026
Review Your Smart TV’s Viewing Data Settings
Learn where to review smart TV content recognition, on-screen ad preferences, and viewing history in a streaming profile.
A household may watch a broadcast through the television, switch to a connected player, and then open an app on the same screen. When you review viewing privacy, start by identifying which device or service handles each activity. The setting you need depends on where the information is collected and what you want to change.
List the inputs and apps you use regularly. Include the television's own apps and any separate devices that feed it a picture. This gives you a starting point for checking the television's settings and the accounts you use to watch.
Find the content recognition setting
Some smart televisions offer automatic content recognition, often called ACR. Roku describes its feature as taking a sample from the screen, creating a fingerprint, and comparing it with a catalog to identify content. Its U.S. guide includes antenna viewing and connected devices among the sources this feature can recognize. The feature can use recognition to suggest related viewing options. Roku's Smart TV Experience guide
Samsung's U.S. support page describes optional ACR linked to Viewing Information Services. Samsung says the feature, when enabled, can collect information such as the programs viewed and the time spent watching. The page directs owners to their television's Settings menu and the Viewing Information Services notice for the choices available to them. Samsung's ACR guide
Check your model and software version when looking up instructions. Record the label you actually see. A menu named for a viewing feature may contain the content recognition control alongside other choices.
Decide how the TV should handle future viewing
Roku's current guide places its ACR checkbox under Settings, Privacy, and Smart TV Experience. Use the control labeled Automatic Content Recognition if that is the feature you want to review. Roku says it retains data collected or used while the feature was enabled if you disable it later. Roku's ACR settings instructions
Roku's guide shows a separate checkbox for More Ways to Watch notifications. The guide explains that this feature requires ACR. If the goal is to reduce prompts on the screen, identify the notification control by name. Check the ACR checkbox itself when you want to review content recognition. Roku's notification settings
Before changing a setting, read its explanation of the features it supports. If you want to limit recognition of viewing on the television, look for the control that governs recognition. Afterward, check the setting again and see whether the viewing features you use still work as expected.
For information already collected, review the provider's privacy notice and any controls it offers for existing records. Decide separately what you want the device to do during future viewing.
Read the scope of advertising controls
A menu may offer choices about how an advertisement appears. Roku, for example, describes controls for hiding certain ads or restricting categories of display banners in its menus and screensavers. That guide limits those choices to the stated display ads. Roku's ad preferences guide
Start with the result you want. If the concern is recognition of what appears on the television, look at ACR. If the concern is an ad category on a menu, read the relevant display control. Their labels and descriptions help you decide which setting addresses the concern.
Check viewing activity in the streaming account
Review the streaming services you use as well as the television. Netflix documents a Viewing activity page for each profile, accessible from the account page in a browser. The page shows the service's history for the profile you select. Netflix's viewing activity guide
On a shared television, check which profile was in use during the viewing you want to review. A service's help page can explain which choices apply to a profile and which apply to the broader account. Keep any notes about settings free of other household members' viewing details.
Recheck after a setup change
Review the relevant controls after setting up a replacement television or adding a connected device. On a shared screen, explain which choice applies to the whole television and which applies to a streaming profile. A brief note with the device name, setting label, and date can help the household find the same control later.