Smart TVs take screenshots of user content for targeted advertising, study finds

Smart TVs made by the likes of Samsung and LG routinely screenshot the contents on display and send the data back to the manufacturers in order to create detailed profiles of their customers, researchers have found.

As well as screenshots, the team from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid found audio was also being collected as part of an Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) system. This data is then periodically sent to specific servers, even when the TV is used as an external screen or connected to a laptop.

This data is used to build up a profile of the consumer that is then used to tailor advertisements at them based on their behaviour.

“ACR works like a kind of visual Shazam, taking screenshots or audio to create a viewer profile based on their content consumption habits. This technology enables manufacturers’ platforms to profile users accurately, much like the internet does,” said Patricia Callejo, one of the study’s authors. “In any case, this tracking, regardless of the usage mode...