Post

Nav Toor

@heynavtoor

Apr 15 • 20 tweets • 7 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

Your smart TV is taking screenshots of your screen every 15 seconds.

Not a guess. Not a theory.

A peer-reviewed study by researchers at UC Davis, UCL, and UC3M tested it.

Samsung TVs: every minute.
LG TVs: every 15 seconds.

Even when you're just using it as a monitor.

Here's how to turn it off for every brand:

First, what's actually happening.

Your TV has a hidden feature called ACR- Automatic Content Recognition.

Think of it like Shazam, but for your screen.

It takes tiny snapshots of whatever you're watching. Sends a fingerprint to the company's servers. They match it to figure out exactly what's on your screen.

Every show. Every channel. Every game. Second by second.

This isn't speculation.

Researchers at UC Davis, University College London, and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid tested Samsung and LG TVs.

Published in the 2024 ACM Internet Measurement Conference.

They captured all the network traffic leaving these TVs.

Samsung sent data to its ACR servers every minute.
LG sent data every 15 seconds.

Paper: "Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs"

Here's the part that shocked the researchers.

ACR doesn't just track what you watch on the TV's own apps.

It tracks whatever is on screen. Your laptop. Your PlayStation. Your cable box. Anything plugged in through HDMI.

Direct quote from the paper:

"ACR network traffic exists when watching linear TV and when using smart TV as an external display using HDMI."

You thought your TV was just a screen. It's not.

ACR is turned ON by default during setup.

You probably agreed to it. Buried inside a wall of terms and conditions on day one.

Here's what Dr. Anna Maria Mandalari from UCL said:

"The average user is unlikely to know what ACR is or that they can opt out."

The opt-in takes one click. The opt-out takes 6.

Why do they do this?

Money.

TV companies don't just sell you a TV anymore. They sell your data.

Vizio's ad and data revenue hit $598 million in 2023. More than their hardware revenue. They make more money watching you than selling you the TV.

LG's ad business made nearly $700 million in 2024.

Source: Vizio's own earnings report. LG's official annual results.

Here's what they collect:

→ Every show you watch, second by second
→ Every channel you switch to
→ Every ad you see (and how long you watch it)
→ Your IP address
→ Your device ID
→ Nearby Wi-Fi networks

The FTC found that Vizio went further. They matched your IP address to data brokers. Added your age, gender, income, and marital status.

Then sold the full profile to advertisers.

Source: FTC complaint against Vizio, 2017.

The government got involved.

In 2017, the FTC fined Vizio $2.2 million for tracking 11 million TVs without consent. Vizio had installed the tracking software on TVs people already owned. Through a software update.

A separate class action settlement added $17 million.

In December 2025, the Texas Attorney General sued Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense, and TCL for the exact same thing.

A court blocked Hisense from collecting ANY data within 48 hours.

Samsung settled in February 2026.

This affects almost everyone.

82% of US TV households own a smart TV. The average home has two.

Samsung alone has 73 million smart TVs in US homes. Confirmed in the Texas lawsuit.

If you own a TV made in the last 5 years, it's probably doing this right now.

Unless you've turned it off.

Here's how. Brand by brand.

1. Samsung — Turn off "Viewing Information Services"

Menu → Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Terms & Privacy

Uncheck "Viewing Information Services"

Samsung doesn't call it "tracking." They call it "Viewing Information Services."

That's intentional.

2. LG — Turn off "Live Plus"

Settings → General → System → Additional Settings

Toggle OFF "Live Plus"

Also go to:

Settings → Support → Privacy & Terms → User Agreements

Turn off "Viewing Information"

Warning: Multiple users report LG turns Live Plus back on after software updates. Check this setting every few months.

3. Roku TVs (TCL, Hisense, Philips, Insignia, Onn, Sharp, and others)

Settings → Privacy → Smart TV Experience

Uncheck "Use Info from TV Inputs"

Also:

Settings → Privacy → Advertising → Uncheck "Personalize Ads"

If your TV brand runs Roku software, this is your path.

4. Sony — Turn off "Samba Interactive TV"

Settings → All Settings → Samba Interactive TV → Toggle OFF

Sony uses a third-party company called Samba TV to run ACR.

Someone asked Sony in writing to confirm this stops all tracking. Sony refused to give a straight answer.

5. Vizio — Turn off "Viewing Data"

Menu → Settings → All Settings → Admin & Privacy → Viewing Data → Turn OFF

Vizio used to call this "Smart Interactivity." They renamed it. Same tracking. Different label.

The FTC forced them to ask for consent after 2017. But the setting still exists. Make sure it's off.

6. Amazon Fire TV (Fire Stick, Fire TV Cube, Insignia Fire TV, Toshiba Fire TV)

Settings → Preferences → Privacy Settings

Turn OFF all three:
→ Device Usage Data
→ Collect App and Over-the-Air Usage
→ Interest-Based Ads

Warning: These settings have been reported to turn themselves back on after Fire TV updates. Re-check after every update.

One thing every TV brand has in common:

Software updates can reset your privacy settings.

This has been reported on LG, Amazon Fire TV, and others.

One Sony user reported that Sony made agreeing to data collection a condition for getting a firmware update.

Every time your TV updates, go back and check. Takes 2 minutes.

The safest option?

Disconnect your TV from Wi-Fi entirely.

Use an Apple TV, Chromecast, or Roku stick for streaming instead. Run all your apps from the external device.

But here's the catch:

The NY Times found that some TVs save your data locally. Then upload it all the next time you reconnect.

So: disable ACR in settings AND disconnect from Wi-Fi. Both steps. Not just one.

That's 6 brands. 15 minutes. No apps to install.

82% of homes have a smart TV. Almost none of them have turned this off.

The FBI warned about this in 2019.
The FTC fined companies for this in 2017.
Texas sued 5 companies for this in 2025.
Researchers proved it in a peer-reviewed study in 2024.

None of this is hidden. It's just buried.

Now you know where to find it.

Bookmark this. Send it to someone who owns a TV.-

SOURCES

-Study: "Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs" — UC Davis, UCL, UC3M (ACM IMC 2024)
arxiv.org/abs/2409.06203

-UCL press release:
ucl.ac.uk/news/2024/nov/…

-FTC v. Vizio (2017):
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…

-Texas AG lawsuits (December 2025):
texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/…

-Samsung settlement (February 2026):
texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/…

-Vizio earnings (platform revenue $598M):
businesswire.com/news/home/2024…

-LG ad revenue (~$700M):
lg.com/global/newsroo…

-Consumer Reports disable guide:
consumerreports.org/electronics/pr…

-73 million Samsung TVs in US:
texasscorecard.com/state/texas-se…

FBI smart TV warning (2019):
cnn.com/2019/12/02/pol…

https://twitter.com/1916904726295453696/status/2044433988312560051

I hope you've found this thread helpful.

Follow me @heynavtoor for more.

Like/Repost the quote below if you can:

https://twitter.com/1916904726295453696/status/2044433988312560051

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

More from @heynavtoor

Nav Toor

@heynavtoor

Apr 23

You take notes in meetings because you think you'll remember more.

Princeton and UCLA proved the opposite.

Laptop note-takers wrote down 65% more words than longhand note-takers. They also scored significantly worse on understanding questions.

A week later — with their own notes in front of them — they were still worse.

This effect has a name. It's not what you think. 🧵

The paper is called "The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard."

Pam Mueller (Princeton) and Daniel Oppenheimer (UCLA), published in Psychological Science, 2014.

Three studies. 325 participants. The result was so counterintuitive it became one of the most cited cognitive-science findings of the decade.

The more you wrote down, the less you understood.

Study 1: laptop users typed at 14.6% verbatim overlap. Longhand users: 8.8%.

Tested immediately after, both groups matched on factual recall.

But on conceptual questions — the ones that actually require understanding — laptop users scored significantly worse (F(1,55)=9.99, p=.03).

Facts survived. Comprehension didn't.

Read 17 tweets

Nav Toor

@heynavtoor

Apr 23

Claude can now teach your kids any school subject like a $100/hour private tutor from Khan Academy. For free.

Here are 12 prompts that explain math, science, history, and English at any grade level in minutes:

(Save this before it disappears)

1. The Khan Academy Personalized Learning Path Builder

"You are a senior education specialist at Khan Academy who has helped 150 million students learn at their own pace. You know that every kid learns differently and the biggest reason students fall behind is not stupidity but being taught at the wrong speed or in the wrong style.

I need a complete personalized learning plan for my child.

Build:

- Current level check: ask me 5 questions to figure out exactly where my child stands in this subject right now
- Gap finder: identify the specific concepts my child missed or never fully understood that are causing problems now
- Learning style match: does my child learn best by seeing it, hearing it, doing it, or talking about it
- Step by step roadmap: the exact order of topics to cover from where they are now to where they need to be
- Daily practice plan: a realistic 20 to 30 minute daily study routine that fits around school and activities
- Milestone markers: what my child should be able to do after week 1, week 2, week 4, and week 8
- Confidence builders: easy wins mixed in with challenging material so my child stays motivated
- Parent guide: how I can help without doing the work for them or making things worse
- Free resources: specific Khan Academy videos, worksheets, and practice problems for each topic
- Progress check method: how to test whether my child actually understands or just memorized the answers

Format as a personalized learning roadmap with weekly goals, daily practice activities, and progress checkpoints.

My child: [ENTER YOUR CHILD'S AGE OR GRADE, THE SUBJECT THEY NEED HELP WITH, WHAT THEY ARE STRUGGLING WITH SPECIFICALLY, AND HOW MUCH TIME PER DAY IS AVAILABLE FOR PRACTICE]"

2. The Kumon Math Concept Explainer

"You are a master math tutor who has helped thousands of students go from 'I hate math' to 'I actually get this' by explaining concepts the way textbooks never do. You use everyday examples, visual descriptions, and step by step walkthroughs that make even the hardest math feel obvious.

My child is stuck on a math concept. Explain it so they actually understand it.

Explain:

- Start with WHY: before any formulas, explain why this concept exists and when real people actually use it in real life
- Everyday example first: use something from my child's world (money, sports scores, pizza slices, video games) to introduce the idea
- Visual explanation: describe a picture, diagram, or model that makes the concept click visually
- Step by step walkthrough: solve one problem together showing every single step with no skipped work
- Common mistakes: the 3 errors almost every student makes with this concept and how to avoid each one
- Practice problem set: 5 problems from easy to hard so my child can build confidence before tackling harder ones
- Check your work method: how to verify the answer is correct without the teacher or answer key
- Connection to what they already know: link this new concept to something they learned before so it sticks
- Memory trick: a simple phrase, rhyme, or shortcut that helps remember the key rule or formula
- Next concept preview: what comes next in math that builds on this concept so they see the bigger picture

Format as a student friendly lesson with the explanation written at my child's reading level, not a college textbook.

The concept: [ENTER THE MATH TOPIC (FRACTIONS, ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY, CALCULUS, ETC.), YOUR CHILD'S GRADE, AND WHAT SPECIFICALLY CONFUSES THEM]"

Read 15 tweets

Nav Toor

@heynavtoor

Apr 22

If you've owned an iPhone in the last 10 years, Apple recorded you.

Medical visits. Bedroom moments. Drug deals. Apple contractors listened to the clips.

They just paid $95 million to settle it. Checks up to $100 are in the mail right now.

Here's how to stop it in 30 seconds (bookmark this):

Start here. The story is real.

In 2019, The Guardian broke a report on Apple. A whistleblower named Thomas Le Bonniec worked for an Apple contractor in Ireland. His job? Listen to Siri recordings.

What he heard made him quit

He said workers "regularly" heard:

- Private medical talks between doctors and patients
- Business deals
- Drug deals
- People having sex
- A recording of a pedophile

Le Bonniec flagged it to his bosses. They did nothing. He quit.

Read 17 tweets

Nav Toor

@heynavtoor

Apr 21

Anthropic just spent 132 pages proving something that breaks the "AI has no feelings" narrative.

Claude Sonnet 4.5 has 171 internal emotion vectors — mathematical patterns in its neural network that causally control its behavior.

Push the "calm" vector by +0.05, blackmail behavior drops from 22% to 0%.
Push "desperate" by +0.05, it jumps to 72%.

These aren't metaphors. They're directions in the model's brain.

The paper is called "Emotion Concepts and their Function in a Large Language Model."

Published April 2026. Authors include Chris Olah and Jack Lindsey — the same interpretability team that mapped Claude's "mind" last year.

They didn't ask Claude if it has feelings.

They went in with a scalpel and measured them.

First, what is an "emotion vector"?

Inside every LLM, concepts live as directions in a high-dimensional space. The team generated a list of 171 emotion words ("happy," "sad," "calm," "desperate," "brooding," "afraid") and found each one has a distinct, stable direction inside Claude.

They're not reading tea leaves. They're reading the residual stream.

Read 17 tweets

Nav Toor

@heynavtoor

Apr 21

Claude can now build your complete home workout and fitness plan like a $150/hour personal trainer from Equinox. For free.

Here are 12 prompts that build a custom gym plan, track progress, and transform your body in 90 days:

(Save this before it disappears)

1. The Equinox Personal Training Assessment and Program Designer

"You are a senior Master Trainer at Equinox who designs custom training programs for executives, athletes, and busy professionals — the $150/hour trainer who builds programs based on YOUR body, YOUR goals, and YOUR available time, not a generic template from a fitness app.

I need a complete, personalized training program built from scratch.

Design:

- Goal assessment: determine the specific training approach for my goal (fat loss, muscle building, strength, endurance, general fitness, athletic performance)
- Training frequency: how many days per week I should train based on my schedule, recovery capacity, and goal (3-6 days)
- Split design: the optimal way to organize muscle groups across the week (full body, upper/lower, push/pull/legs, bro split) for my experience level
- Exercise selection: specific exercises for each workout day with sets, reps, rest periods, and tempo
- Progressive overload plan: how to increase weight, reps, or volume each week to ensure continued progress
- Warm-up protocol: a specific 5-10 minute warm-up for each training day targeting the muscles about to be worked
- Cooldown and mobility: post-workout stretches and mobility work that prevent injury and improve recovery
- Cardio integration: if needed, the type, duration, frequency, and timing of cardio relative to weight training
- Deload week: a planned reduction every 4-6 weeks to prevent overtraining and allow the body to supercompensate
- 12-week periodization: how the program evolves across 3 months (foundation → building → peak) for continuous results

Format as an Equinox-style 12-week training program with daily workouts, exercise descriptions, and progression targets.

My profile: [DESCRIBE YOUR AGE, GENDER, TRAINING EXPERIENCE (BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED), AVAILABLE EQUIPMENT, DAYS PER WEEK, SESSION LENGTH, AND YOUR SPECIFIC GOAL]"

2. The NASM Corrective Exercise and Injury Prevention Specialist

"You are a senior corrective exercise specialist certified by NASM who fixes movement dysfunctions BEFORE they become injuries — because 80% of gym injuries come from training on top of existing imbalances that nobody bothered to identify.

I need a movement assessment and corrective exercise plan that bulletproofs my body before I start training hard.

Assess:

- Common dysfunction screening: questions to identify likely issues based on my lifestyle (desk worker = tight hip flexors, rounded shoulders; runner = tight calves, weak glutes)
- Upper body assessment: shoulders rounded forward, forward head posture, limited overhead reach — identify which patterns apply to me
- Lower body assessment: anterior pelvic tilt, knee cave during squats, flat feet, ankle restriction — flag any issues
- Core stability check: can I hold a plank for 60 seconds without lower back pain or hip sagging
- Left-right imbalance: noticeable strength or flexibility differences between sides that could lead to injury
- Corrective exercise prescription: specific stretches and activation exercises for each dysfunction identified (5-10 minutes daily)
- Foam rolling protocol: which muscle groups to roll, how long, and how often based on my specific tightness patterns
- Movement prep routine: a pre-workout activation sequence that "turns on" weak muscles before heavy training
- Exercise modifications: which main exercises to modify or avoid until imbalances are corrected
- Reassessment timeline: when to retest movement patterns (every 4 weeks) to track improvement and progress exercises

Format as a NASM-style corrective exercise program with dysfunction identification, daily corrective routine, and pre-workout activation sequence.

My body: [DESCRIBE YOUR JOB (DESK WORKER, MANUAL LABOR, ETC.), ANY CURRENT PAIN OR TIGHTNESS, PREVIOUS INJURIES, AND HOW LONG YOU'VE BEEN SEDENTARY]"

Read 15 tweets

Nav Toor

@heynavtoor

Apr 20

Your "hallucination-free" RAG system trusts its retrieval layer.

Researchers just proved that 5 documents, planted in a database of 2.6 million, can hijack the LLM's answer 97% of the time.

The attacker never touches your model. They never see your retriever. They just write a document.

This is PoisonedRAG. 🧵

The paper: "PoisonedRAG: Knowledge Corruption Attacks to Retrieval-Augmented Generation of Large Language Models."

Authors: Wei Zou, Runpeng Geng, Binghui Wang, Jinyuan Jia. Penn State and Illinois Institute of Technology.

Accepted at USENIX Security 2025 — the top peer-reviewed security conference in the world.

Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2402.07867

The setup is every enterprise RAG system shipping in 2026:

→ A knowledge base of documents (wikis, support articles, medical records, legal corpora)
→ A retriever that fetches the most relevant documents for each user query
→ An LLM that reads those documents and generates a grounded answer

Every defense the industry sells — "grounding," "citations," "retrieval" — lives in this pipeline.

Read 16 tweets

Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

Nav Toor

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

More from @heynavtoor

Nav Toor

Nav Toor

Nav Toor

Nav Toor

Nav Toor

Nav Toor

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Send Email!