The Verge asked 11 TV makers 17 privacy questions. Four refused to answer.

By Rebecca Stone

The Verge put 17 yes-or-no privacy questions to 11 television and streaming-device manufacturers, and four of them — Panasonic, Sony, Vizio and Hisense — either declined to answer or never replied. Hisense ignored five separate attempts at contact. The remaining seven companies, including the top three TV makers, answered in writing, producing one of the most direct side-by-side records of what smart televisions actually collect in the home.

The survey, published one month after the invitations went out to Amazon, Apple, Google, Hisense, LG, Panasonic, Roku, Samsung, Sony, TCL and Walmart's Vizio, was designed to bypass privacy policies. The Verge asked closed questions such as: "Do your TVs store any recorded audio, or transcripts based on audio, captured in the home?" Named representatives answered for the participating companies: Eric Sveum for Amazon, Emily Ewing for Apple, Alex García-Kummert for Google, Chris De Maria for LG, Sarah Novatt for Roku, Frank Giancamilli for Samsung and Rob Manfredo for TCL.

The stakes are straightforward. Modern televisions run automatic content recognition, or ACR, which identifies what viewers watch and feeds that data to advertising and recommendation systems. A recent Northeastern University study found that Walmart's Vizio continued sending data after a user opted out. Vizio told The Verge the traffic was "routine operational data used to support the Vizio experience," not ACR, while traffic from Samsung and Roku devices was limited but not fully stopped after opt-out.

Do smart TVs listen to your home?

Every answering manufacturer said microphones activate only on explicit triggers, not ambient listening.

• Amazon: microphones on voice remotes "are designed to only work when the mic button on the remote is physically pressed." Hands-free Alexa models detect "the wake word (and only the wake word)." Every Fire TV with microphones has a physical disable button or switch.
• Apple: Apple TV 4K uses far-field microphones and the Always On Processor "strictly to listen for the Siri wake word," which "does not process or act on any other sounds in the home."
• LG: voice recognition is off by default and requires accepting the Voice Information Agreement, then pressing the mic button or using a wake word. If no wake word is detected, audio "is processed locally, promptly deleted, and is not stored, converted to text, or transmitted."
• Samsung: "Samsung TVs do not listen to or record private conversations." The embedded microphone listens locally only for "Hi, Bixby."
• Roku: Roku TVs have no built-in microphones; standard voice remotes listen only while the button is held.
• TCL: deferred responsibility, saying third-party operating systems and applications "control whether the voice features are available and how they are used, under their own terms and privacy policies."

On audio storage, Amazon and Samsung answered no — though Samsung added that "on secure servers, voice commands and transcripts are stored only to process requests and improve voice assistant services." Google stores recordings only if Voice & Audio Activity is enabled, which the company said is off by default. Roku retains voice commands "to improve voice features and provide support," with an opt-out in account privacy settings.

Screenshots, viewing data and ACR

No answering company admitted to capturing screenshots or recordings of the screen. Apple said Apple TV 4K "does not use automatic content recognition (ACR), nor does it collect screenshots, screen recordings, or video recordings." Google said Google TV software does not use ACR, but noted that "third-party TV hardware OEMs may install separate ACR software." LG said its ACR uses audio fingerprints generated from content audio — not images — to identify what is playing.

Viewing-data collection is where answers diverged sharply:

• Amazon: yes, opt-in, for features like the Continue Watching row; manageable in Privacy Settings.
• Google: stores viewing history, watchlists and app interactions for Google TV and FreePlay, but "do not have viewing history on third party apps."
• Samsung: yes, "but only for TV programming and app viewing history," not personal files.
• LG: collects viewing information under a separate Viewing Information Agreement across ACR, LG Channels, voice commands and usage data. ACR is optional, off by default, and "does not operate within third-party streaming apps."
• TCL: limited diagnostics data only, pseudonymized "to prevent user profiling," and can be turned off.

What location and identity data do TVs transmit?

Location tracking depends on the brand. Google TV transmits "public IP address, Wi-Fi scan data (SSID/BSSID), and account/device regional configuration to determine approximate or precise device location." LG uses IP address and nearby Wi-Fi network information, including MAC addresses and signal strength, to estimate location as part of ACR — no GPS module exists in the set. TCL collects IP address and Wi-Fi SSID to identify a country or city. Samsung said it collects no GPS coordinates, Wi-Fi SSIDs or street addresses, transmitting only the public IP required for network communication. Amazon transmits IP addresses normally and ships no GPS hardware.

Account data reaches the cloud across the board. Google accesses "name, email, age, gender" through the linked Google Account. LG stores name, email and date of birth for LG Account holders on its servers. TCL stores its limited data with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Network scanning split the field. Google TV discovers nearby Cast and smart-home devices via mDNS, SSDP and Matter/Thread and transmits connectivity logs. LG transmits information about detected local devices to a third-party service provider for device discovery. Samsung said flatly: "Samsung TVs do not scan your home Wi-Fi network."

Can you actually opt out?

No company allows a full opt-out. Amazon said "basic functionality like downloading apps and streaming content requires transmitting data." Google said users "cannot opt out of 100% of data transmission while connected to the internet." Samsung, Roku and TCL gave the same answer in different forms.

Defaults, however, have shifted. LG said voice recognition, ACR and interest-based advertising "are not enabled by default." Samsung said consumers are "opted out by default" of Viewing Information Services, which includes ACR. Roku's Smart TV Experience is off by default in the US. Amazon's ACR is default-off. Google is the outlier: usage and diagnostics sharing, personalized recommendations and ads, and Web & App Activity tracking "are enabled by default unless opted out."

On data retention after opt-out, Samsung said disabling VIS stops collection immediately and "any previously collected ACR data is deleted from our servers." LG and Amazon also said no data is retained for later use. Roku conceded that after opting out of ad personalization, "data is still collected and used for other purposes."

Disconnecting a TV from the internet halts transmission at every answering company. But Amazon, Google, Samsung, Roku and TCL all confirmed the device stores some data locally and sends it once reconnected — crash logs and diagnostics, chiefly. LG said no: voice data "is not stored for later upload when the TV is offline."

Encryption and deletion rights

Roku claims end-to-end encryption. Google encrypts on device (Android file-based encryption) and in transit (TLS/HTTPS) but not end-to-end, since its servers must decrypt voice requests. LG encrypts account information and data in transit, but said speech-to-text results "may be stored without encryption." Samsung hashes ACR data and encrypts it in transit and at storage.

Every answering company offers deletion: Amazon through its data-management tools, Apple at privacy.apple.com, Google at myactivity.google.com, LG through TV settings or email, Roku at privacy.roku.com, and Samsung on request — including a device advertising ID reset that severs old ACR data from the hardware.

Apple, notably, answered some questions with policy statements rather than yes or no, and skipped others entirely, including the questions on opt-out defaults and offline behavior.

With Panasonic, Sony, Vizio and Hisense silent, buyers of those sets have only their privacy policies to consult. The Verge said it will add responses if any of the non-answering companies changes course.