How to stop tracking on Fire TV

TL;DR

Difficulty: 2/5
Time estimate: about 4 minutes

Fire TV tracks viewing and app use through a handful of settings, and nearly all of them live in one place: Settings > Preferences > Privacy Settings. This guide covers Fire TV sticks and boxes and Fire TV Edition televisions, the TVs with Fire TV built in. The list you see depends on the device: televisions swap one toggle for a combined version, and some newer televisions add a content recognition toggle the sticks never show.

Step-by-step

Open Settings.
Go to Preferences, then open Privacy Settings. On older sets and older software, look under Settings > Applications instead; the privacy controls lived there before they moved to Preferences.
If your menu shows Manage Sharing From Apps (it appeared in 2025), turn it off. It stops third-party apps from sending viewing and content information to Amazon.
Turn off Device Usage Data.
Turn off the app usage toggle your device shows. Sticks and boxes list Collect App Usage Data. Televisions list Collect App and Over-the-Air Usage instead; it is one combined toggle covering app use and antenna viewing, not a second switch next to the first. The exact wording can vary a little by model.
Turn off Interest-Based Ads.
In the same menu, choose the option to reset your advertising ID. This clears the ID advertisers have been building a profile against and starts you with a fresh one.
Televisions only: if your set lists Automatic Content Recognition, turn it off. This toggle appears on some newer models, if present at all. If your menu has no such toggle, there is nothing missing on your set; the combined toggle in step 5 is the control that covers your programming data.

Traps to expect

The combined toggle confuses people. Television owners who go looking for a standalone "Collect App Usage Data" switch will not find one. On a TV, the combined "Collect App and Over-the-Air Usage" toggle takes its place.
The ACR toggle may simply not exist on your TV. Amazon's own Privacy Settings FAQ does not list an Automatic Content Recognition toggle at all, and Consumer Reports' 2025 lab test of a Fire TV Edition set did not find one; Amazon says it does not use ACR technology to track all the shows you watch. Some recent guides do show the toggle on newer models, so check step 8, and if it is not there, you are done with that item.
One menu, several separate switches. Turning off Device Usage Data does not turn off the others. Each toggle is its own decision, so work down the full list.
Settings screens move between versions. If your Privacy Settings list looks slightly different, work by the toggle names above rather than their position on screen.

What you lose

Interest-based ad targeting through the advertising ID. Fire TV devices carry an advertising ID that apps can use. Turning Interest-Based Ads off instructs apps that use that ID not to use it to build profiles for advertising purposes or to target you with interest-based ads. You still see ads; this setting governs what the ID can be used for, not whether ads appear.
App usage collection. With the app usage toggle off, Amazon stops collecting data on when you open and close third-party apps and how long you use them.
App sharing with Amazon. With Manage Sharing From Apps off, third-party apps cannot send viewing and content information to Amazon.
Nothing about playback changes. Your apps, purchases, and library are untouched.

What these toggles do not do

Amazon's Privacy Settings FAQ is plain about the scope of Device Usage Data: turning it off stops Amazon processing that data to serve you customized marketing offers and to improve its products and features. It does not stop the collection and processing needed to deliver the device's features, or data tied to Amazon services such as Prime Video.
Each streaming app keeps its own settings and privacy notice. These Fire TV toggles do not reach inside Netflix, Hulu, or any other app; check the apps you use most for their own controls.
Turning a toggle off stops future collection under it. It does not erase data Amazon has already collected.

After / re-check

Caution: treat this one as a habit, not a confirmed fact. Some guides suggest re-checking these toggles after major software updates, because updates can change settings screens. After a big update, reopen Settings > Preferences > Privacy Settings and confirm each toggle is still off.
If you add a new Fire TV device or television to your home, run this list on it too. The settings do not carry over between devices.

Last verified: October 26, 2026

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