Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs · HackerPapers discussions

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — mentioned by rpdillon

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 16:16:55 GMT

LG's statement: > ACR uses audio fingerprinting technology using the TV’s internal audio processor (not a speaker) to identify content and does not collect screenshots, screen recordings, video recordings, voice recordings, or other audio recordings from the TV. So they are claiming that ACR is done entirely through audio processing, and no visual data from the screen itself is used? That...doesn't seem plausible. This paper from 2024 investigated both Samsung and LG and found that they both capture screen images for ACR, and send the resulting hash (not the raw content) back to the…

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — mentioned by wongarsu

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 10:50:24 GMT

https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2017/02/what-vizi... "Starting in 2014, Vizio made TVs that automatically tracked what consumers were watching and transmitted that data back to its servers. Vizio even retrofitted older models by installing its tracking software remotely. All of this, the FTC and AG allege, was done without clearly telling consumers or getting their consent. ... "Vizio collected a selection of pixels on the screen that it matched to a database of TV, movie, and commercial content https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.06203 shows LG and Samsung doing something similar

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Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — HN submission

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 02:44:08 GMT

Watching TV with the Second-Party

1 point; 2 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — mentioned by ChrisArchitect

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:57:16 GMT

(2024) sources instead of twitter threads: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2024/nov/smart-tv-tracking-raises... https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.06203

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Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — mentioned by its-summertime

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 21:31:34 GMT

https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.06203 the study Instructions given from the twitter thread but are probably slop: Samsung: Menu → Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Terms & Privacy → Turn off "Viewing Information Services" LG: Settings → General → System → Additional Settings → Turn off "Live Plus" Settings → Support → Privacy & Terms → User Agreements → Turn off "Viewing Information" Roku TVs (TCL, Hisense, Philips, Insignia, Onn, Sharp, and others): Settings → Privacy → Smart TV Experience → Turn off "Use Info from TV Inputs" Settings → Privacy → Advertising → Turn off "Personalize…

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — HN submission

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 21:07:54 GMT

Smart TV tracking raises privacy concerns (2024)

https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.06203

51 points; 59 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — HN submission

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:37:17 GMT

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at ACR Tracking in Smart TVs (2024)

3 points; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — mentioned by Spooky23

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 02:29:27 GMT

In a word yes. Here is a starting point. https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.06203

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Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — mentioned by sllabres

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 15:44:00 GMT

I am not a HIFI/TV aficionado, but the ACR [1] thing was new to me. I hope it is not yet important for me as I never allowed a TV access to my LAN/WLAN. But with smart devices using accessible open WLANs to transmit who knows. [1] https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.06203 / https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.06203

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — mentioned by Renaud

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 12:28:46 GMT

TVs can be aggressivetring to connect to any Wifi network. Apparently some now also come with SIM cards. My xiaomi TV is making thousands of request per day to their domains. I block them all using adguard/adblock, but imagine the amount of information they can get from a connected TV. Samsung and LG and many others do this. Look for Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) in Samsung's privacy This interesting study from last year: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs - https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.06203

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — mentioned by rolandog

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 19:28:30 GMT

TL;DR: I'm of the opinion that the answer is probably "not yet", "it's in the works", or "it's already here, but not yet widely known". In short, I couldn't find strong conclusive evidence for "yes" or "no". The Wikipedia article on ACR [0] seems to be quoting CIO-Wiki [1] --- or vice-versa. The statement would imply "yes": > Real-time audience measurement metrics are now achievable by applying ACR technology into smart TVs, set top boxes and mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. This measurement data is essential to quantify audience consumption to set advertising pricing…

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — HN submission

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 20:26:41 GMT

First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs

2 points; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — HN submission

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 12:44:52 GMT

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognitio

7 points; 1 discussion reply on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — mentioned by card_zero

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 09:05:00 GMT

Here's the paper: https://arxiv.org/html/2409.06203v1

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — HN submission

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:29:42 GMT

Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs

159 points; 155 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — HN submission

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 13:12:39 GMT

A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs

3 points; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs — mentioned by teddyh

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 18:08:59 GMT

<https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.06203>

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.