Smart TV Manufacturers Make More Money from User Tracking than Device Sales

A study by GlobalSign has revealed that smart TVs constantly capture “screen fingerprints” every second and send this data to their servers. As a result, manufacturers can build detailed user profiles and monetize them by selling the information to third parties. There is high demand for this data among advertisers and marketers, and smart TV vendors are eager to tap into this additional revenue stream. According to GlobalSign, some manufacturers may soon collect as much data as tech giants like Google.

The investigation found that TVs from Samsung, LG, Vizio, and TCL record and transmit screen content to their servers every second, regardless of the signal source—whether it’s cable TV, an app, a DVD player, or streaming. The manufacturers’ servers use automatic content recognition (ACR) systems and keep logs; the resulting user profiles are then sold to dozens of partners.

Legally, everything is above board: users themselves grant permission for this data collection by not unchecking the relevant boxes during setup. Manufacturers often pre-select these options, sometimes hiding the ACR setting in the “Terms and Conditions” or offering a default “Agree to all” choice.

This year, according to GlobalSign, revenue from user tracking for some smart TV manufacturers has significantly surpassed income from device sales, which have become cheaper as a result. For example, at Vizio, the advertising and profiling division generated twice as much profit in the second quarter ($57.3 million) as device sales ($25.6 million). A similar trend is seen at Roku.

Researchers conclude that if this trend continues, TVs could eventually become free, as long as users agree to see ads and have their data collected. In the near future, smart TVs might even stop working unless users accept these terms—but of course, that’s just a joke.