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Your TV might be watching you. And not in the way you think.

We bought TVs from different brands, connected them to our network, and noticed something strange: even when we were using an Apple TV or a PlayStation through HDMI, some of the screens were still sending data.

So we decided to find out what they were sending, who was receiving it, and why.

It turns out smart TVs use a technology called Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), which works a lot like Shazam. Instead of recording everything on your screen, it creates tiny digital fingerprints that can identify what you're watching.

And that information is worth a lot of money.

In this episode, we trace the technology back to its inventor, follow the data through companies like Samsung, LG, Vizio, Samba TV, and advertising platforms, and look at how your viewing habits become part of a much larger advertising profile.

We also dig into the lawsuits, test what happens when we reject tracking permissions, and explain what you can actually do to stop your TV from collecting data.

Because apparently, buying the TV doesn't necessarily mean you're the customer.

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Gamer Nexus

216,000,000 Spy TVs | The LG Smart TV Problem

https://youtu.be/6IFVTcM28KA?si=JX3R2EMfMsni5esf

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📚 Sources & References

Samsung Ads — ACR Guide

https://iabcanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Samsung-Ads-ACR-Guide-CA.pdf

UCL & UC Davis — Watching the Watchers: ACR Tracking on Smart TVs

https://arxiv.org/html/2409.06203v1

ProPublica — Own a Vizio Smart TV? It's Watching You

https://www.propublica.org/article/own-a-vizio-smart-tv-its-watching-you

TVREV — Zeev Neumeier and the Origins of TV Analytics

https://www.tvrev.com/news/zeev-neumeier-inscape-vizio-tv-analytics-interview

Samsung Ads & Experian

https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/blog/samsung-ads-and-experian

Texas Attorney General — Samsung Privacy Agreement

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-paxton-secures-major-agreement-samsung-ensure-texans-are-protected-smart-tvs

Texas Attorney General — LG Privacy Agreement

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-secures-major-agreement-lg-protect-texans-privacy-and-stop-data-being

Gamers Nexus — LG Smart TV Investigation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IFVTcM28KA

Decrypt — LG TV Privacy and Arbitration

https://decrypt.co/377637/lg-tv-might-be-listening-even-when-off

Roku — 2025 Annual Report

https://image.roku.com/bWFya2V0aW5n/Roku-2025-Form10-K.pdf

Shazam — Audio Fingerprinting Research

https://www.ee.columbia.edu/~dpwe/papers/Wang03-shazam.pdf

pHash — Perceptual Hashing

https://www.phash.org/docs/design.html

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#SmartTV #Privacy #Samsung #LG #Vizio #Roku #DataPrivacy #Surveillance #ACR #Advertising #TechExplained #Cybersecurity #Slidebean #HarkPartner