How to stop tracking on Google TV (and Android TV)

TL;DR

Difficulty: 2/5
Time estimate: about 4 minutes

Google TV sits underneath a lot of televisions. Some Sony and Hisense models run Google TV or its predecessor Android TV, and TCL sets vary by system, which means the Google layer may be collecting diagnostics and running the advertising ID even when the TV brand has its own tracking on top. This guide handles the Google layer. If your TV has a brand layer too, finish with the brand guide linked at the end.

One thing to know before you start: Google TV and Android TV put some of these settings in different places. The steps below split the paths by system, and the paths come from Google's and Sony's own help pages, linked in the sources at the end.

Step-by-step

Open Settings.
Turn off Usage & Diagnostics. On Google TV: Settings > Privacy > Usage & Diagnostics. On Android TV: Settings > Device Preferences > Usage & Diagnostics.
Open the ad controls. On Google TV: Settings > Privacy > Ads. On Android TV: Settings > About > Legal Information > Ads, or Settings > Device Preferences > About > Legal Information > Ads.
Select Reset advertising ID. This gives the TV a fresh ID and breaks the link to the ad profile built up under the old one.
If your set shows Opt out of Ads Personalization, turn it on. This is the main personalization toggle on Android TV and on older Google TV builds that do not offer Delete advertising ID.
If your set offers Delete advertising ID, use it. On Google TV, after choosing it, press the D-Pad twice to focus on Delete Advertising ID and press Select to confirm. Deleting goes further than resetting: apps no longer get an advertising ID from the TV. Google's own caveat: apps may still use other types of identifiers of their own, which can also affect the ads you see.
Optional extra, outside the 4 minutes: on a computer or phone, open your Google Account activity controls and turn off Web & App Activity, and open My Ad Center to turn off Ad personalization. The TV is signed in to that account, and those controls set what Google keeps and how ads are personalized across it.

Traps to expect

Resetting is not deleting. A reset ID starts a new profile from zero, and tracking resumes under the new ID. Delete the ID where your set offers it, and reset again from time to time if it does not.
The path depends on the system, not just the brand. The same maker sells Google TV and Android TV sets, and the two systems file these settings differently. If the Google TV path is not there, use the Android TV path in steps 2 and 3 before concluding your set lacks the setting.
The Google layer is not the whole TV. Turning off Usage & Diagnostics and the ad ID does nothing about a brand's own content recognition running on top. Sony sets add Samba Interactive TV, present on models through at least 2025, location varies by model; Hisense sets add EV Service. Use the brand guides below after this one.

What you lose

Personalized ads, partly. Ads still appear. After a reset, targeting restarts under the new ID. After deletion, ads are no longer based on that advertising ID, but they can still be targeted from other information shared with apps.
Diagnostics-driven improvements. Usage & Diagnostics is the data Google uses to find crashes and bugs. Turning it off means your set stops contributing to that. The TV itself works the same.

After / re-check

As a precaution, after a major system update, confirm Usage & Diagnostics is still off and check the Ads screen again. Toggles can be worth a fresh look after updates, and the Ads screen tells you whether an advertising ID exists.
If you factory reset the TV, these settings reset too. Run this guide again after signing back in.

Advanced: CleanYourTV, for experts only

Most readers should stop here. The settings above are the safe route. What follows is a community tool, not a setting, and it can break a TV.

CleanYourTV is a free, open source project that goes further than this guide: instead of turning trackers off, it disables the ad and telemetry packages themselves and replaces the home screen with a clean launcher. It works through the TV's developer debug connection (called ADB), usually with an AI coding assistant choosing which packages to disable on your exact model.

Why it is fenced off here:

One user's TV was left unable to boot after an assistant disabled packages the TV needed. The project has since added guards that refuse the most dangerous lists, but those guards only apply if you use the project's own tools exactly as written.
Some packages do more than their names suggest. Disabling the wrong one has cost people their Inputs button, their saved Wi-Fi, and phone casting.
A system update installs over the cleanup: disabled packages come back and the stock home screen returns. Some lists also turn the updater off, and a TV with its updater off gets no security updates at all.
Turning the debug connection on opens a door on your home network. It has to be turned off again afterwards, and the project ships a checker to prove it is off. Skipping that step leaves the TV reachable by other devices on your network.
TV makers do not ban this by name, but their warranties exclude problems caused by modifying the TV. The project itself warns that changing TV software may affect your warranty or support.

If you still want to try it, all of these are required, not optional:

Your exact TV model has a tested list in the project. If it does not, stop.
Use the project's own tools and instructions only. Do not let an assistant improvise its own list.
Keep the system updater, the Play Store, and Play Services on.
Work in small batches, and keep the backup and the restore script the tool makes.
When you finish, turn debugging off, revoke the debugging authorizations, reboot, and run the project's checker to confirm the connection is closed.

Expect to redo the cleanup after major system updates.

Brand layers on top of Google TV

Sony sets: Sony tracking guide (Samba Interactive TV, present on models through at least 2025, location varies by model)
Hisense sets: Hisense tracking guide (EV Service)
TCL sets: TCL tracking guide (start there to identify your system)

Last verified: October 26, 2026

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