Does opting out of smart TV tracking work? Research finds “suspicious” traffic.
OS operators throwing out that data is "unlikely," research author tells Ars.
Smart TVs from major manufacturers continue to transmit data to automatic content recognition (ACR) endpoints even after users disable tracking in the devices' settings, according to a new study. Conducted by researchers at Northeastern University, the paper raises concerns about potential privacy breaches from leading TV brands.
ACR technology captures video screenshots or audio snippets from smart TVs and transmits the information to remote servers, which are utilized for purposes such as measuring content viewership and delivering targeted advertisements. The study, titled "Watching the Watchers: Privacy Analysis of US Smart TV Automatic Content Recognition," analyzed eight smart TV operating systems across 12 smart TVs from 10 manufacturers, including Amazon, Hisense, LG, Roku, Samsung, Sony, Supersonic, TCL, Vizio, and Westinghouse.
The research aimed to determine when smart TVs utilize ACR and how effective opting out of user tracking is.
Written by urgent.news from Ars Technica's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
