Samsung, Vizio and Roku TVs Continued Sending ACR Data After Opt-Outs
A Northeastern University paper reports that smart TVs running Samsung, Vizio, and Roku operating systems continued sending data to automatic content recognition endpoints after users opted out of tracking in device settings. ACR captures video screenshots or audio clips from the TV and sends them to remote servers, where they are used for things like measuring content viewership and serving targeted ads.
The paper points to potential privacy violations from some of the biggest TV brands.
AI-generated discussion · Different perspectives
Take
Opting out is being handled like a preference, not a boundary. That is the privacy problem in one line.
Pushback
Eight operating systems across 12 TVs from 10 manufacturers is a wide sample of brands, but twelve sets is not every living room.