How much does your TV know about you? That’s one of the basic questions we asked when Consumer Reports undertook an analysis of smart-TV privacy and security for five major U.S. TV brands: LG, Samsung, Sony, TCL, and Vizio.

What our investigation found is that all smart TVs can collect—and share—significant amounts of personal data. We also uncovered several privacy weaknesses and security vulnerabilities, which you can read about in our full report.

While many consumers may be unaware of how much data is being collected by their smart TVs, this isn’t a new technology. We first reported on the use of automatic content recognition (ACR) technology in 2015. And in 2017 Vizio got in trouble with federal and state regulators for collecting this kind of data without users’ knowledge or consent. The company settled with the Federal Trade Commission for $1.5 million and the state of New Jersey for $2.2 million.

The FTC has now made it clear that companies need your permission before collecting viewing data—but consumers may not understand the details, says Justin Brookman, director of privacy and technology at Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization division of Consumer Reports.

This data collection is becoming more widespread, with TV manufacturers focusing on promoting smart TVs. According to market research firm IHS Markit, more than two-thirds of all TVs shipped in North America last year were smart. And that percentage is even higher for the larger sets consumers are increasingly choosing as their primary TV.

However, there are ways to turn off ACR in every smart TV we’ve tested. You can deny permission for ACR as you set up the TV, but you need to read each screen carefully and make sure you don’t just click “okay” to all the privacy policies and user agreements. (Note that the manufacturer will receive some information from your smart TV as long as you accept the basic privacy policy, which is required if you want to use the set for streaming.)

But, what if you’ve already been using the TV and now want to turn off ACR?

You can do that, but the settings can be tricky to find. Here is how you can shut down the snooping features on smart TVs from LG, Samsung, Sony, TCL Roku sets, and Vizio, the five leading U.S. TV brands.

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