How to turn off tracking features

Buy a smart TV, and odds are your viewing habits are probably being tracked. That’s what Consumer Re

ports found out after studying the five biggest TV brands.

But not everyone will be happy about this tracking. Here’s how to turn it off, if you have a smart TV:

LG

In the menu, click to Settings, which brings you to All Settings, and find your way to General. The feature to look for here is LivePlus, which is what LG calls the ACR technology. This is the one you want to turn off.

Samsung

On newer sets, go to Settings in the menu, then Support, then Terms & Policies. From there, Consumer Re

ports suggests pulling Viewing Information Services to opt out of. On older models, Consumer Reports says to click on Support and then select Terms & Policy and then SyncPlus and Marketing to turn off ACR.

Sony

Consumer Reports notes that ACR is turned on during setup of the TV, via agreements with Sony, which makes the TV; Google, which provides the AndroidTV operating system; and Samba TV, a company that gathers analytics on viewers’ habits that advertisers can use for targeted ad campaigns. On Sony TVs, you’ll have to get go back to the setup, available within Settings, to turn off ACR. If you want some of the Web connectivity, but not everything, you can agree to Sony and Google policies, and then when you come to Samba TV, opt out of ACR by clicking “disable.”

TCL/Roku

TCL makes branded Roku TVs with software also used in sets by Hisense, Hitachi, Insignia, Philips, RCA and Sharp. Turn off ACR by going to Settings, then Privacy and “Smart TV Experience.”

Consumer Reports says you can uncheck “Use Information for TV Inputs” to disable ACR.

Vizio

For Vizio sets, select System, click on Reset & Admin and opt for Viewing Data to opt out of ACR. Lee Neikirk, who reviews TVs for Reviewed.com, a sister unit of USA TODAY, says manufacturers have to do a better job informing the public about the data being collected from them on smart TVs. “The integrity move would be a blatant statement right up front when you’re setting up the TV, ‘This is what we are doing, and this is how to turn it off.’ ” The actual act of changing the settings is easy, he adds, but most consumers never bother with fiddling with menu changes.