Samsung TV Viewing Information Services

Last checked: 14 Oct 2026

Viewing Information Services is Samsung's name for the TV feature that recognises what's on screen, known as ACR (automatic content recognition). It's optional. You agree to it, or not, when you set up the TV, and you can untick it later.

What it does, in Samsung's words

Samsung's US notice says it lets Samsung identify and analyse what you watch and use on the TV, including "the channels, programs, games, shopping services, and applications you use", even inside other companies' apps.
Samsung says the TV creates a short digital signature of the picture and matches that, and that it doesn't collect video footage or the content itself.
Samsung's UK notice says it's used for content and app recommendations and, if you've agreed separately, for ads and marketing. If you don't opt in, recommendations aren't based on what you watch.
In the US, if you've also agreed to Interest-Based Advertisements, Samsung says viewing information may be used to choose ads for you.

For how ACR works on all brands, see what ACR is and how to turn it off.

How to turn it off

Find the Terms & Privacy settings for your TV's year (below), and untick I consent to Viewing Information Services. That's the wording in Samsung's UK notice, which says you can also do it in the Privacy Choices app on the TV's home screen.

TV year	Where Terms & Privacy is	Source
2022 to 2026	`Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Terms & Privacy`	2022, 2024, 2023–25, 2026 manuals
2021	`Settings → Terms & Privacy`	2021 manual
2018	`Settings → Terms & Privacy`	2018 manual

The manuals give where Terms & Privacy is, but not the checkbox names; those come from Samsung's notices. For 2019 and 2020 TVs, and for every setting by year, see the Samsung TV settings guide.

Ads: the separate I consent to Interest-Based Advertisements box decides whether ads are chosen for you. Samsung's UK notice says unticking it won't reduce the number of ads you see.

Privacy Choices or other settings greyed out?

Samsung doesn't publish an explanation for Privacy Choices being greyed out. These are the conditions it does document, which are worth checking:

The Smart Hub agreement. Every Samsung manual since 2018 says that without agreeing to the Smart Hub terms, "you cannot use the additional features and services".
Model and country. Samsung's manuals from 2024 onwards say Privacy Choices "may not be supported depending on the model or geographical area".
Internet connection and current input. Samsung US says a greyed-out setting means it isn't available "based on the current source, setting, or connections", for example with no internet connection, or while a streaming app is running in the background.
Samsung account. The same page says a Samsung account is needed for internet-based smart features.

If Privacy Choices is greyed out, the Terms & Privacy route in the table above is the other way to reach the same checkboxes.

Withdrawing the Smart Hub agreement itself

The Smart Hub terms are needed for apps, so unticking them isn't offered like the others. Samsung's manuals say to reset Smart Hub instead. On 2025 and 2026 TVs (UK and EU manuals): Settings → Support → Device Care → Reset Smart Hub On 2022 and 2024 TVs (North America manuals), it's under Device Care → Self Diagnosis → Reset Smart Hub.

For the TV's microphone and voice settings, see Is my TV listening?

Sources

This page describes your options and how organisations say they handle requests. It isn't legal advice. See About & sourcing to report a correction.