![]() ![]() ![]() Unfortunately, opting out is often harder than it sounds because manufacturers use confusing language to describe ACR and may also bury the relevant options deep in the settings.įor example, Samsung refers to its proprietary ACR system as "Viewing Information Services" while LG calls theirs "Live Plus". This can be done during setup or later via the settings. Most TVs sold in Australia allow users to opt out of ACR. While there are potential upsides to ACR, we believe that many consumers are giving away a lot of value for relatively little benefit. In our view, consumers need to think carefully about these trade-offs and whether they are comfortable with the value exchange. In our view, consumers need to think carefully about these trade-offs and whether they are comfortable with the value exchangeĪCR can also potentially be used to deliver more precise TV-level recommendations, offering a solution to the fragmented nature of individual app recommendations, or to power additional features such as info overlays or subtitles. This is because manufacturers earn additional revenue from ACR-enabled ad services that can be used to subsidise the cost of a TV to the consumer. The installation of ACR on a TV set may make it more affordable. In their defence, manufacturers point to several consumer benefits of ACR. Given this context, ACR needs to be understood not as an interactive or interest-based feature but as an extension of online tracking into the medium of television. For example, Samsung TVs take screenshots every 500 milliseconds. ACR creates a modest but unnecessary increase in the TV's CPU load, and potentially its electricity consumption and data costs.ACR can be used to power annoying pop-up ads that appear during live programming.This explains why ads often seem to follow you from one device to another. Some ACR companies use your smart TV to identify other connected devices in the household and to send ads to those devices.On an ACR-enabled smart TV your viewing data is potentially being collected twice – first by the apps you use, and then by the TV (not to mention their advertising partners).The primary purpose of ACR is to enable targetted advertising rather than to improve user experience.However, the use of ACR in smart TVs is different for the following reasons: Others might already be familiar with the idea that streaming apps like Netflix track our activity to personalise recommendations, and be quite comfortable with this. Some people might shrug their shoulders and say they have nothing to hide. While ACR has attracted attention overseas, many consumers here are unaware of the amount of data they are handing over every time they turn on their TV. The use of ACR by TV manufacturers is little discussed in Australia. If you binged the last season of RuPaul's Drag Race, of if you watch Sky After Dark religiously, this information can potentially be used to target you on an assumption of your sexuality, political leanings, income level, location, and various other attributes. The implication here is that what you watch tells advertisers about what kind of person you are. One TV manufacturer claims to work with "hundreds of third-party data companies" to analyse users' viewing, ad exposures, app subscriptions, activations, and cancellations – and to target ads on this basis. This information can potentially be used to target you on an assumption of your sexuality, political leanings, income level, location, and various other attributes This is valuable information for advertisers.ĪCR data can also be combined with third-party data, sourced from data brokers, to link your viewing habits to other data including your income, past purchases, and other attributes. This data trove grows over time into a record of your tastes, viewing habits, and the different ads you have been exposed to (or avoided). The purpose of ACR is to build up a detailed picture of your viewing behaviour. Within a few seconds, many ACR-enabled TVs can identify the specific piece of content on display – whether you are binging Squid Game on Netflix, watching a tennis match on broadcast TV, or playing Minecraft through your Xbox. This pattern is then checked against a massive database of content. This is achieved through a technology called video fingerprinting, which samples pixels to determine a unique pattern. Wait, what's in my cart? The hidden cost of website 'dark patterns'ĪCR refers to your TV's ability to recognise what you are watching at any given time.
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