Smart TVs and media devices

Your TV may know, before your partner does, that you’ve spent weeks watching documentaries about anxiety at three in the morning.

For decades, the television held a privileged place as the family gathering point: a one-way window through which the world entered the home while we simply watched. The relationship ended there. With the arrival of the smart TV, that dynamic has changed completely: now the screen watches you back.

A modern television is no longer a simple signal receiver; it’s a full computer with its own operating system, an internet connection, microphones, and behavior-analysis software. This device, often sold at surprisingly low prices, hides a business model built on the after-sale: the mass commercialization of its viewers’ data.

Reclaiming the living room’s privacy is possible, but first it’s worth understanding what goes on in there: how your TV analyzes what you watch, and what additional risks external streaming devices and consoles bring.

A cheap TV is rarely a gift from the manufacturer. It’s an agreement, almost always implicit, in which you provide the living room and they keep the record of what you watch in it.

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The business model: why are TVs so cheap?

Walk into an electronics store and it’s surprising to see high-resolution screens at prices that barely cover materials and logistics. Manufacturers have adopted a model in which the hardware is sold at minimal margins, and the difference is made up by selling viewing habits to advertisers and networks. When you accept the terms of service the first time you turn on the TV, you usually grant permission to monitor everything that appears on screen. The margin the manufacturer doesn’t make selling you the screen, it recovers by selling your viewing habits to marketing agencies.

Automatic content recognition: constant surveillance

The key technology here is ACR (Automated Content Recognition). The system periodically captures small samples of what appears on screen to identify what you’re watching, regardless of the source: a traditional channel, a console, or an external player connected over HDMI.

This data enables extremely precise profiling: if the system detects that you watch exercise videos, it syncs that information with your IP address so that, minutes later, gym ads appear on your smartphone. The bestknown case is Vizio, one of the major TV manufacturers: in 2017, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the state of New Jersey fined it $2.2 million for tracking the viewing habits of 11 million televisions without clear consent and selling that information — cross-referenced with data such as age, income, and household size — to advertising companies.

The case set a precedent, but it didn’t close the issue. In December 2025, the Texas attorney general sued five manufacturers over similar practices, and in February 2026 Samsung became the first to settle, committing to redesign its setup screens so that consent is clear rather than buried in the startup process. Sony, LG, Hisense, and TCL were still litigating at 17. Smart TVs and media devices 113

the time of writing. ACR remains on by default in the vast majority of TVs sold today.

Streaming devices, microphones, and cameras

Roku and Amazon Fire TV work much like budget smart TVs: the profit comes from tracking which apps you open and what you search for, in order to serve you personalized ads. Google TV, the system behind Chromecast devices, ties your viewing history directly into your global Google profile. Apple TV is the exception: Apple makes its margin selling the hardware itself, and its policies restrict cross-app tracking, which makes it the most privacy-respecting option — and also the most expensive.

Even traditional broadcast TV has its own way in. HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) is the interactive signal that accompanies some channels and lets broadcasters learn your IP, install tracking cookies, and measure how long you watch each channel, all without your having asked for any of it.

Built-in voice assistants, meanwhile, bring permanently cloud-connected microphones into the living room. And if the TV has a camera, the risk of remote access is real: the security systems on these devices tend to be considerably weaker than a computer’s.

Consoles and software obsolescence

Modern consoles are, in practice, powerful media centers that collect data on the games you play, your schedules, and your online interactions to fine-tune commercial strategies. Voice chat also exposes whoever uses it to interactions with strangers, a risk we covered earlier.

There’s an added risk that rarely gets mentioned: software obsolescence. A smart TV can sit in your living room for 10 years, but manufacturers usually stop sending it updates after two or three. From that point on, 114 THE PRIVACY HABIT

the built-in browser and apps become vulnerable entry points for anyone who wants to reach other devices on your home network. Screenprojection features (casting or mirroring) can also display private notifications from your phone on the big screen in front of everyone present, just when you least expect it.

How to “dumb down” your smart TV

The most effective strategy is to limit the device’s “smart” capabilities:

• The nuclear option. Don’t connect the TV to your Wi-Fi. Use it as a high-quality “dumb” screen and play content through safer external devices, such as an Apple TV or an offline player.

• Turn off ACR. Look in the privacy or terms-of-use menus for options like “Viewing Information Services” (Samsung), “Live Plus”

(LG), or “Samba Interactive TV” (Sony), and turn them all off. Repeat this check after every firmware update: some manufacturers re-enable them without notice.

• Cover the camera. If your TV has a built-in camera, cover it with a physical tab or a sticker. The physical barrier is still the best guarantee.

• Use kids’ profiles. On Netflix or YouTube, always turn on the “Kids” profiles for the youngest members of the house, reducing the collection of behavioral data.

The generic network name: never leave your TV’s default name (something like “LG-OLED-LivingRoom-Maria”). Change it in the network menu to something generic, like “Screen-01.” You’ll prevent anyone scanning the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth networks in your area from identifying who lives in your home and which TV model you own.

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IMMEDIATE ACTION: LIVING ROOM CLEANUP

1. Turn off ACR. Go into your smart TV’s settings menu, find the privacy or terms-of-use section, and uncheck every box that mentions “viewing information services” or “interest-based advertising.”

2. Cut HbbTV’s data services. In the channel settings, look for “HbbTV” or “data services” and turn it off to keep broadcasters from tracking your channel changes.

3. Turn on “Do Not Disturb” before sharing your screen. Before projecting your phone onto the TV, enable “Do Not Disturb” or “Focus” mode so that no private message appears on the big screen.

You’ve learned to put the living room TV in its place. But the smart TV is only one of the many sensors that now live at home: cameras, speakers, light bulbs, and robot vacuums already form a silent army of connected devices.