Samsung TV
What the default settings do
Samsung’s Tizen-based Smart TVs collect several kinds of data by default that are distinctive to a TV in your living room rather than a phone. The most consequential is automatic content recognition, which Samsung calls “Viewing Information Services”: a background process that fingerprints whatever is on screen, regardless of the source (a streaming app, a cable box, a game console, an antenna), and matches it against a reference database to build a viewing profile. In most regions this is technically opt-in, presented prominently during setup, but enough people accept it there, or don’t notice the prompt, that it behaves like an opt-out feature in practice for most owners.
Samsung TVs also serve interest-based advertising based on viewing and app activity, offer voice recognition that handles simple commands on-device but sends more complex requests to Samsung’s servers, and, on models linked to SmartThings, feed additional data into Samsung’s smart-home ecosystem. Menu structure has shifted across Tizen generations: 2023 and newer models consolidate most of these controls into a “General & Privacy” section, while 2022 and earlier sets use an older “Support” menu layout. Both are noted below where the paths differ.
A reasonable privacy baseline
These settings are found in the TV’s Settings app, accessible from the gear icon or the remote’s Settings shortcut.
Viewing data and ACR
Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Terms & Privacy → Viewing Information Services → Off
This is Samsung's automatic content recognition system. When on, it continuously analyzes what's displayed on screen, from any connected input, and reports it back to Samsung to build a profile of your viewing habits. Turning it off stops this collection going forward. On TVs from 2022 and earlier, the equivalent toggle is found under Settings → Support → Terms & Policy → Privacy Choices.
Advertising
Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Terms & Privacy → Interest-Based Advertisements → Off
Samsung uses your viewing and app activity to personalize ads shown in its own apps and the Smart Hub interface. Turning this off means ads are no longer tailored to your activity. Samsung's system does not currently offer a separate button to reset the underlying advertising identifier the way some other platforms do, so opting out here is the main lever available.
Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Terms & Privacy → Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information → On (US only)
A separate toggle required by state privacy laws such as California's CCPA. Enabling it opts you out of the sale or sharing of your personal information under those laws' definitions, in addition to the interest-based ads setting above.
Voice recognition
Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Voice → Voice Wake-up → Off
Disables the always-listening microphone that waits for a wake word before activating voice control. Samsung's voice system handles simple commands with on-device processing, but more complex requests are sent to Samsung's servers for interpretation. Turning off Voice Wake-up stops the far-field microphone from listening in the background at all; you can still use voice commands by pressing a button on the remote first.
Samsung Account → Bixby voice data → "Leave Bixby" → Delete voice history
If you have used Samsung's Bixby voice assistant on the TV, your voice recordings and interaction history are tied to your Samsung account. Leaving Bixby from your account settings deletes this history, though Samsung notes the process can take several hours to complete.
SmartThings
SmartThings app → Menu → Settings → Privacy Notice / Permissions → Review and restrict
SmartThings integration links your TV to Samsung's smart-home ecosystem and can collect additional data, including content purchase history and, depending on which features you use, location information. These controls live in the separate SmartThings mobile app rather than on the TV itself. If you don't use smart-home features with your TV, you can decline linking it to SmartThings during setup, or unlink it later from the app.
Trade-offs
- Turning off Viewing Information Services means Samsung’s content recommendations and some interactive features tied to what’s on screen will not work as intended.
- Disabling interest-based advertising does not reduce the number of ads shown in Samsung’s Smart Hub and apps, only how relevant they are to your viewing habits.
- Turning off Voice Wake-up means losing hands-free voice activation; you can still use voice commands by pressing the microphone button on the remote.
- Declining to link SmartThings means losing convenience features like using the TV as a smart-home dashboard or including it in routines with other connected devices.
- Samsung’s advertising settings don’t currently include an explicit “reset advertising ID” action the way some competing platforms do.
Who should not change these settings
- If you like Samsung’s automatic show and movie recommendations on the home screen, leaving Viewing Information Services on is what powers those.
- If you use Bixby regularly and want it to keep adapting to your voice and vocabulary, leaving voice history intact, rather than clearing it repeatedly, gives a better experience over time.
- If your household already uses SmartThings for other devices, keeping the TV linked lets it participate in the same automations and dashboard.
- If you find personalized ads genuinely more relevant than generic ones, there’s no need to change the advertising settings.
- If you rely on hands-free wake-word activation for accessibility reasons, keep Voice Wake-up on and focus instead on the data-retention controls under Bixby settings.