Is your Smart TV spying on you?

In many Egyptian households, Smart TVs have become a central hub for entertainment — offering seamless access to Netflix, YouTube, Shahid, OSN, and more. But behind their sleek screens and convenient features lies a growing concern: your Smart TV might be collecting far more information about you than you think.

As tech giants like Google, Amazon, and major TV brands like Samsung and LG push deeper into the advertising world, your TV has quietly become a powerful tool for data collection. The issue is particularly worrying because much of this tracking happens without users fully understanding what’s going on.

At the heart of this silent surveillance is a technology called Automatic Content Recognition (ACR). This software runs in the background of many Smart TVs, scanning what’s playing on your screen — regardless of whether you’re watching YouTube, satellite TV, or even streaming from a USB or game console.

ACR compares this content with massive databases to identify what you're watching, when, and how long you’re watching it. From there, the data can be matched with advertising networks to build a detailed profile of your viewing habits. This profile is then used to serve highly personalized ads — sometimes across multiple devices linked to the same internet connection.

What surprises many people is that even if you’ve paid for your Smart TV or subscribed to streaming services, you’re not immune to being tracked. In fact, some users are shown ads the moment they turn on their TV — a tactic used by companies like Roku, a U.S.-based streaming platform known for its aggressive advertising model.

For these companies, advertising has become the real money-maker — not the hardware itself. Roku, for instance, makes billions in revenue annually from targeted advertising alone, often placing users at the center of a monetization model they never signed up for.

One of the biggest concerns is that most users are unaware that this type of tracking is happening — let alone how to stop it. While it is possible to disable ACR through the settings menu, the option is usually buried deep within technical menus, and turning it off can sometimes impact other functions.

In Egypt, where digital literacy varies widely, many consumers may not even know such settings exist, making them especially vulnerable to passive data collection.

Privacy advocates around the world have criticized the lack of transparency and the failure to get explicit user consent. They argue that users should be clearly informed — in simple language — about what’s being collected, why, and how they can opt out without losing key features.

If you're concerned about your Smart TV tracking your behavior, here are a few simple steps you can take:

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  Dig into your settings: Look for anything labeled “Viewing Information,” “ACR,” or “Advertising Preferences” and turn them off.

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  Limit Wi-Fi connection when you’re not streaming — disconnecting the internet disables most data collection functions.

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  Be selective with app permissions, especially for third-party streaming services.

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  Choose privacy-first brands if you're shopping for a new TV. Some manufacturers offer “dumbed down” Smart TVs with fewer tracking features.

As Egypt becomes increasingly connected and digitized, it's important for consumers to understand how their devices work, not just in terms of functionality, but also in how they treat your data. Your Smart TV may offer convenience, but it also comes with trade-offs.

Being aware of these trade-offs is the first step to protecting your privacy. In a world where screens are everywhere, the smartest move you can make might just be hitting "off" — not on your TV, but on its data collection settings.

A version of this article is published on Marketing Boerse.