You should turn off ACR on your TV right now (and why it matters so much to privacy)

"Did you know that whenever you turn on your smart TV, you invite an unseen guest to watch it with you? These days, most mainstream TVs use automatic content recognition (ACR), a type of ad-tracking technology that collects data on everything you watch and sends it to a central database. Manufacturers then use this information to understand your viewing habits and deliver highly targeted ads."

"To understand how ACR works, imagine a constant, real-time Shazam-like service running in the background while your TV is on. It identifies content displayed on your screen, including programs from cable TV boxes, streaming services, or gaming consoles. ACR does this by capturing continuous screenshots and cross-referencing them with a vast database of media content and advertisements. According to The Markup, ACR can capture and identify up to 7,200 images per hour, or approximately two images every second."

"This extensive tracking offers money-making insights for marketers and content distributors because it can reveal connections between viewers' personal information and their preferred content. By "personal information," I mean email addresses, IP addresses -- and even your physical street address. What's the incentive behind this invasive technology? According to market research firm eMarketer, in 2022, advertisers spent an estimated $18.6 billion on smart TV ads, and those numbers are only going up."

Automatic content recognition (ACR) on mainstream smart TVs continuously captures what appears on screen and matches it against a large media database. ACR can capture thousands of images per hour, identifying programs from cable boxes, streaming services, or gaming consoles. The collected viewing data links preferences to personal identifiers such as email addresses, IP addresses, and even physical street addresses, enabling precise audience profiling. Advertisers invested roughly $18.6 billion in smart TV ads in 2022, driving further deployment of ACR. Marketers use these insights for tailored content recommendations, bespoke ad placements, and tracking ad-driven purchases. Disabling ACR can reduce data collection but often requires deliberate effort.

Read at ZDNET