Without users noticing: Smart TVs take several screenshots every second

International researchers have found that smart TVs from Samsung and LG regularly take screenshots of the screen. These findings from Great Britain, Spain and the USA show that the devices are active even when using external devices such as consoles or laptops via an HDMI port. (via:”t3n“)

Research shows that Samsung TVs take a screenshot every 500 milliseconds, while LG TVs do so every ten milliseconds. This data is regularly sent to the manufacturer’s servers: Samsung sends screenshots every minute, LG every 15 seconds. However, not all screenshots end up on the servers. Content from Netflix and other third-party apps or YouTube videos mirrored from a smartphone or laptop will not be uploaded. The tracking mainly affects antenna television and HDMI-connected devices.

Smart TVs take screenshots: Here’s how to prevent it

A team of researchers explains: “This function, known as Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), is used to track viewing behavior in order to deliver targeted advertising.”

Users can deactivate ACR tracking via the privacy settings of the smart TVs. At Samsung, this can be done under “Support” and “Terms of Use” by deactivating “Viewing Information Services”. With LG the “Live Plus” function must be switched off. However, this requires going through six to eleven different options in the TV settings.

These findings thus reinforce the criticism of the data protection of smart TVs, which was already expressed by the Federal Cartel Office in 2020 due to serious deficiencies in transparency.