Your Smart TV Tracks More Than You Think—and Most Americans Don’t Know How to Stop It

You weren't even talking about it out loud, you didn't send anybody a message, you didn't like any posts featuring it, and yet there it is on your TV: an ad for the exact product you were just thinking about. And you wonder, "Is my smart TV spying on me?"

What do your smart TV and streaming apps actually know about you? Sure, finding something to watch is easier these days, but you may also be leaving behind a trail of data that makes it easier to pin down what you may be interested in.

With 77% of Americans owning a smart TV, making it the most common connected home device in the Reviews.org 2026 Consumer Trust Survey, it’s worth knowing what your smart TV can track, what other Americans know about tracking, and why many people still don’t feel in control of what they’re seeing on their smart TVs.

Smart TVs dominate the connected home. To put their 77% ownership rate into perspective, here's how other smart home devices compare:

Smart TV adoption is roughly 30% higher than smart speakers, the next most common smart home device. Smart TVs are twice as prevalent as doorbell cameras, and over three times as popular as AI chatbot or assistant subscriptions (such as ChatGPT or Amazon Alexa).

With so many people using smart TVs, it’s worth knowing what people can expect in terms of privacy and data tracking.

Some smart TVs (not all) can detect and log what appears on screen, not just what happens inside built-in apps. And similarly, most smart TVs will disclose when they have microphones or cameras built in — so it’s worth knowing what your TV can and can’t do.

When asked about smart TV privacy awareness, here’s how Americans responded:

The majority of people are aware of smart TVs and their potential privacy concerns, as well as their ability to change certain settings. But even with relatively high awareness, privacy settings can still feel hard to find, understand, or manage.

Changing these settings puts the responsibility on the individual to manage their own data, rather than on companies to default to minimal tracking — or at least make it easier to turn off.

When privacy concerns arise, behavior changes, even though convenience and app selection still play an important role in device use. That leads some viewers to turn to separate streaming devices for additional content and privacy.

As many as 62% use a separate streaming device instead of their smart TV's built-in apps. And though it's not wholly privacy-driven, 54% knew that using a separate streaming device may limit the data their TV manufacturer collects.

Privacy still plays a part: 42% have chosen one streaming device or brand over another because of privacy or data practices — even if only 17% cite it as their primary reason for switching. For what it's worth, survey respondents found Roku to be the most trustworthy streaming device.

Switching to a separate streaming device is not a full privacy solution. It may shift or limit some TV manufacturers' data collection, but it does not eliminate tracking.

Privacy concerns go beyond data tracking and market profiling, with many consumers worried that their smart devices are doing more than tracking their in-device activity.

When asked about targeted ads, half or more of Americans had concerns about how much data their devices are tracking, or even observing:

Beyond smart TVs, privacy concerns extend to AI assistants, with brand-specific concerns at roughly the same level:

Note: More popular services likely have more customers, so higher concern levels may reflect larger user bases rather than greater untrustworthiness.

It’s worth understanding what data is collected by your smart assistant and how to protect your privacy.

Consumers may keep using smart TVs for the convenience and additional content, but they'd also like more control and clearer disclosure over their privacy and data.

While 53% say they have meaningful control over the data their connected devices collect, 47% say they don't — a split that reflects how murky data control still feels in practice.

For greater control, most people want to discourage the invasion of privacy through laws, direct action, or their own wallets.

Most (83%) of Americans would support legislation requiring smart device makers to disclose what data they collect in plain language, meaning most are fine with certain practices as long as they're aware of what those are.

This could look like getting recommendations for other shows based on your previous watching habits, rather than seeing ads for the exact chair you want across multiple apps.

If they discovered unexpected data collection, most Americans say they would take direct action: 84% would adjust privacy settings, and 78% would disconnect a connected device if it collected more data than expected.

Ultimately, 74% would switch to a competing brand with better privacy practices. And while privacy isn't always the primary concern for purchases, 66% of Americans would pay more for a smart TV or voice assistant guaranteed not to collect or sell their data.

In short, while personal awareness and action play a part in managing privacy concerns, consumers would prefer not to have to think about privacy or data collection at all when it comes to their smart home devices. Smart TVs will likely remain mainstream, but privacy control still feels too complicated for many consumers.