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It’s been an open secret for almost a decade that your TV and other devices monitor your streaming activity to provide you with personalized ads or content suggestions.
Also: I found an HDMI CEC blocker that effectively protects your data (and more)
But did you know that most smart TVs also analyze what you watch on devices connected via HDMI? A modern smart TV is just as capable of mining a 20-year-old DVD for ad data as it is your Netflix queue. Thankfully, we’ve found some ways to help keep your TV viewing experience as private as possible.
How HDMI content tracking works
A smart TV will use two methods to track your viewing habits through media played on an HDMI-connected device:
- HDMI-CEC Metadata: This is a very technical term for the ID of an HDMI device. When you connect a game console, Blu-ray player or other playback device, it sends “Device ID” data to your TV, primarily to allow you to control your TV and any connected devices from a single remote. However, it also tracks how long you use that device (for example, “Profile A used Input 1 (PlayStation 5) for X hours).
- Automatic Content Recognition (ACR): This approach seems too “spy-like”, considering how much data it tracks. Regardless of the source, the TV will take tiny “fingerprint screenshots” of every pixel on the screen, and then feed that data into an algorithm to figure out which movie, show, or video game you’re playing on an HDMI-connected device.
“One of the most important findings is that ACR tracking occurs even when the TV is used as a ‘dumb’ display,” according to researcher at University of California, Davis. This is very common data which companies refine in the next method.
How to Stop It (Without Going Off-Grid)
There are a few ways to turn off most content-tracking features in the software settings on your TV. Here’s how to lock it:
Disable ACR (most important)
You’ll want to get comfortable, as you’ll probably have to dig into the terms and conditions and/or privacy and data policy you clicked on when you initially set up your TV. Each brand has this setting in a different location, so if you need help finding it, we’ve listed possible menu options:
- Samsung: View information services
- LG: live plus
- Vizio: view data
- Sony/Google TV: Help & Feedback or Usage & Diagnostics
- TCL/Roku TV: smart tv experience
- Hisense: Viewing Smart TV experiences or information services
- Fire TV: automatic content recognition
Also: Is Your Roku TV Tracking You? It’s a possibility, but there’s a way to prevent it
Turn off HDMI-CEC
If keeping track of all your devices as well as multiple remotes for your TV doesn’t seem like a big deal, turning off this feature limits the data exchange between your HDMI-connected devices and your TV. And because brands can never make it easy enough for us, you’ll have to look elsewhere than disabling ACR:
- Samsung: Settings > Connections > External Device Manager > Anynet+
- LG: Settings > General (or Connections) > Device connection settings (or external devices) > Symplink
- Vizio: Menu > All Settings > System > CEC
- Sony: Settings > Channels & Inputs > External Inputs > BRAVIA Sync
- Tcl: Settings > Channels & Inputs > Inputs > Control Other Devices (CEC)
- Hisense: Settings > System/Connections > HDMI & CEC
- Fire TV: Settings > Display & Sound > HDMI CEC Device Control
- Roku TV: Settings > System > Control other devices
- Google TV: Settings > Display & Sound > HDMI CEC
Use an HDMI CEC-less adapter
If you’re like me and don’t fully trust fully-digital solutions, you can buy a physical CEC blocking device quite cheaply. This adapter connects to both your TV and HDMI devices, but it lacks the pin connector needed to transmit data. This means you can block tracking pings without affecting the video or audio signal. Type bluerigger Offers single devices, pairs, and sets of four so you can turn off tracking on each of your TVs.
Disconnect from the Internet or use a VPN
And finally, the inevitable. The only guaranteed way to stop companies from tracking your data on the Internet is to completely disconnect your TV and devices from Wi-Fi and Ethernet networks. They can still share data locally, but without an Internet connection, it can’t be sent to a brand’s database for analysis.
And if you can’t even think of giving up digital streaming for the wonderful world of physical media, you can always opt to install a VPN on your TV, which changes your IP address to prevent both brands and bad actors from tracking your online activity.
Also: How to disable ACR on your TV – and why doing so makes such a big difference
Keep in mind that when you disable these features, it may also affect other ways you use your Smart TV. Obviously, disconnecting from the Internet will disable streaming, but disabling ACR and HDMI-CEC may affect features like voice commands or even the search function.
And this is especially possible when your TV updates its firmware and security settings, so be sure to check your menus from time to time to make sure your options are still saved. It may take a while for you to really see the benefit of blocking data collection, as your TV will still work with the data it has to feed you content suggestions and ads.
But the long-term goal is to protect your privacy and data so you can enjoy your media again without worrying about some brand ripping you off.
