Your Smart TV Is Secretly Spying on You — Here’s How to Get It to Stop

After a long day, there’s nothing better than sinking into the couch, grabbing the remote, and firing up the latest movie or binge-worthy TV show. Our smart TVs — which put so many streaming apps right at our fingertips — make it easy, and that’s a bit of a problem. That always-on connectivity comes with a hidden cost: your privacy. That’s because while you’re kicking back and watching your favorite actors, your TV is watching you. It’s not using a camera; it’s collecting data. To track your viewing habits, Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) periodically samples tiny snippets of whatever is playing on your TV and then cross-references those samples with a huge database of known content. This happens across all online streaming apps and live services, from Netflix and Hulu to Prime Video and YouTube TV. The good news is that it’s easy to turn off, although the process varies by TV manufacturer. Here’s how to disable ACR on each of the most common smart TV brands:

Samsung TVs

1. Press the Home button on your remote.

2. Navigate to the settings menu in the sidebar.

3. Select “Privacy Choices.” (On older Samsung TVs, you may find this under the “Support” menu.)

4. Select “Privacy Policy.”

5. Uncheck the box for “Viewing Information Services.”

LG TVs

1. Press the Settings button on your remote.

2. Select “Settings” in the side menu.

3. Select “General.”

4. Select “System.”

5. Select “Additional Settings.”

6. Toggle off “Live Plus.”

Sony TVs

1. Press the Home button on your remote.

2. Select “Settings.”

3. Select “Initial Setup.”

4. Select “Samba Interactive TV” and toggle it off.

Fire TVs (Amazon, Panasonic)

1. Press the Settings button on your remote.

2. Navigate to the “Preferences” menu.

3. Select “Privacy Settings.”

4. Toggle off “Automatic Content Recognition.”

Vizio TVs

1. Press the Menu button on your remote.

2. Navigate to “System.”

3. Select “Reset & Admin.”

4. Toggle off “Viewing Data.”

Google TVs (Hisense, TCL, Sony)

1. Press the Home button on your remote.

2. Select “Settings.”

3. Select “System.”

4. Select “Privacy.”

5. Toggle off “Viewing Information Services.”

Note: On some televisions, this option might be called “Smart TV Experience” or something similar. Look for that and disable it. On Sony models running Google TV software, the option will be called “Samba Interactive TV,” like on other Sony TVs.

 

Roku TVs

1. From the home screen, open “Settings.”

2. Select “Privacy.”

3. Select “Smart TV Experience.”

4. Toggle off “Use Info from TV Inputs.”

 

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Lemon Blueberry Bread

You wouldn’t think that lemons and blueberries would make a successful pair, but this Lemon Blueberry Bread will change your mind. The tart brightness of the lemon pairs perfectly with the sweet, juicy blueberries, allowing both flavors to shine in this quick and easy bread. 

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

FOR THE BREAD:

• 1-½ cups plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided

• 2 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• ½ cup oil or softened butter 

• 3 large eggs

• 1 tsp lemon zest 

• ½ tsp vanilla extract

• 1 heaping cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

FOR THE GLAZE (Optional)

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 3-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350º F.

• Grease bottom and sides of a 9X5 loaf pan

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat sugar and oil (or softened butter) until well combined. 

• Add yogurt, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.

• Slowly fold the dry ingredients into the wet, just until incorporated. 

• In a separate bowl mix the blueberries with 1 tablespoon of flour and then gently fold them into the mixed batter.

• Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

• Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. 

• Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

• Whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice and drizzle over the top of the cooled loaf.

Notes

• High Altitude: add 2 tablespoons extra flour.

• Freezing Instructions: Allow bread to cool completely then wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer safe container or bag. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator or at room temperature.

• Lemon blueberry muffins: Make the recipe as stated below and divide the batter in a standard muffin tin; filling cups about ⅔ full. 

 

• Bake at 350º F for about 20-25 minutes.

 

• Fruit: You can swap out the blueberries for raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, or diced strawberries.

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New Food Products Introduced

The introduction of a new food product is a complex endeavor that requires careful planning, thorough market research, and a solid understanding of consumer behavior. It's more than just creating a delicious recipe; it's about identifying a gap in the market, developing a compelling product, and effectively communicating its value to potential buyers. Here are some of the latest introductions.

 

Pickle Beer is Official: Pabst Blue Ribbon is putting the pickle straight into the beer with a new collaboration alongside Grillo’s Pickles. The PBR x Grillo’s Pickle Beer is 4.7% ABV, landing somewhere between crisp lager and full-on pickle hit. PBR and Grillo’s will roll out a co-branded NASCAR paint scheme at the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega on April 21, with it hitting retailers nationwide starting May 4, including Walmart, Safeway, Total Wine & More, and GoPuff, while supplies last.

Reese’s Marshmallow Cups: The new Reese’s Marshmallow cups add a layer of marshmallow-flavored filling to the brand’s classic peanut butter and milk chocolate, giving it that soft, sweet middle fans have been asking for online. Alongside it, Reese’s is bringing back its Strawberry PB&J cups, which layer strawberry filling with peanut butter inside the signature chocolate shell. It’s a flavor that plays directly into the PB&J memory, just tightened into Reese’s form. Both flavors will be available for a limited time and come in standard, king size, and snack size bags while supplies last.

Dippin’ Dots head to grocery stores: For the first time, Dippin’ Dots is packaging its signature ice cream into grocery-ready boxes, each with four individual 2.5 oz. cups. The lineup sticks to some of its most recognizable flavors: Cookies ’N Cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Ultimate Brownie Batter. Dippin’ Dots multi-packs are landing at Walmart and other retailers nationwide.

 

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The World’s Oldest Gorilla Just Celebrated Her 69th Birthday

Fatou, the world’s oldest gorilla living in captivity, celebrated her 69th birthday on Monday with a feast of cherry tomatoes, beets, leeks and lettuce at the Berlin Zoo in Germany. She didn’t get the traditional birthday cake because sugar isn’t healthy for aging primates. Fatou, a western lowland gorilla, arrived in what was then West Berlin in 1959. She was believed to be about two years old at the time, though her exact birth date isn’t known. April 13th was designated as her birthday. Gorillas can live around 35-40 years in the wild, longer in captivity. Fatou became the zoo’s oldest resident in 2024, following the death of Ingo the flamingo. The bird was believed to be at least 75 and had lived at the zoo since 1955. Fatou was likely born in the wild in western Africa, but the story goes that a French sailor took her out of Africa and bartered her to cover his bar tab in Marseilles, France. A French animal trader then reportedly sold her to the zoo. These days, Fatou lives in an enclosure of her own and prefers to keep her distance from the zoo’s other gorillas in her old age. She’s lost her teeth and suffers from a touch of arthritis and hearing loss, but she’s still friendly with the zookeepers. Still, she can be a bit stubborn, but at 69 years old, she’s earned it.

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