I cut the cord years ago. My cable and internet bill was almost $300 a month with tons of channels I wasn’t watching. Meanwhile, I was paying for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. It was out of control, so I decided to drop my cable and move to a streaming platform like Fire TV Stick or Roku. After some research, I decided Roku was a better fit for my needs. The Roku TVs I had seen looked good, and the price was right. Today I have a handful of Roku streaming sticks and TVs around my house.
But here’s the thing with any free or low-cost service, the real currency is your data. Roku, like its competitors, collects a surprising amount of information on what you watch and how you use their devices. The good news is that there are ways to shut down most of the tracking and make your Roku a little less intrusive.
8/10
- Dimensions
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4.9 x 5.0 x 1.0 inches
- Brand
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Roku
The Roku Ultra offers premium streaming features. It operates 30% faster than any other Roku player, delivering a lightning-fast interface and apps that launch in a snap.
Wait, there’s more. Roku also collects data tied to your account and device usage. This can include things like your search history, your IP address, and if you use the voice features, snippets of your input. Roku can then share that data with their advertising partners to better target ads and generate recommendations. In other words, they’re quietly building a profile of you in the background.
How to Stop Roku From Tracking You
There are a number of steps you can take to help reduce the data and telemetry you share with Roku.
Privacy Settings Exclusive to Roku TVs
If you’re using a Roku TV from brands like TCL, Hisense, Sharp, or ONN, you’ll have extra privacy options that don’t exist on Roku streaming sticks or boxes. These TVs include Automatic Content Recognition (ACR). That means it’s not just your streaming habits being tracked, it’s your cable box, game console, or Blu-ray player too. To disable this, do the following.
Press Home on your remote, then navigate to Settings > Privacy > Smart TV Experience. On the next screen, uncheck the box that says, “Use Info From TV inputs.” Also make sure that “Enable Auto Notifications is Turned Off.”
Turning these off won’t stop those inputs from working, but it will stop Roku from analyzing what’s on your screen and feeding it into its advertising and recommendation systems.
Privacy Settings for All Roku Devices
Whether you’ve got a streaming stick or a Roku TV, the remainder of these privacy settings should be the same across all Roku devices.
First, let’s tell Roku not to share your personal information. To do that, navigate to Settings > Privacy > Privacy Choices. Uncheck the checkbox that says, “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information.” Next uncheck the checkbox that says, “Limit Use of Sensitive Information.”
Microphone and Voice Access
Some Roku sticks and Roku TVs include built-in microphones for voice search and commands. By default, channels can request access to that mic, which means your voice input may be captured and shared. If you don’t use voice controls, or just want tighter privacy, you can restrict or disable this feature entirely.
To disable voice features, go to Settings > Privacy > Microphone. Under the microphone access, choose Prompt, so you’ll be asked each time you press the microphone button on the remote. If you don’t use voice commands, you can also block it altogether by clicking “Never Allow.”
Additionally, you can revoke any past mic approvals here by clicking on Channel Permissions > Reset Channel Permissions.
This won’t break anything on your Roku, but it will limit how apps and channels can utilize the microphone on your remote.
Advanced Privacy Steps
Even with Roku’s privacy settings locked down, there is still more you can do to ensure your viewing habits stay private. Here are some advanced ways you can block Roku’s data collection efforts.
Using a VPN
A VPN can help protect your privacy when using Roku but it’s important to know what it can and can’t do. Roku devices do not support VPN apps directly; the only way is through a router-level VPN. By routing your Roku through a VPN-enabled router, you mask your IP address and location. This makes it more difficult for advertisers and streaming services to tie activity back to you. It can also keep your ISP from seeing what you’re watching.
That said, Roku is still collecting data and sending it upstream. The device can still log what channels you watch and for how long. So, while a VPN is good for hiding your identity and protecting you from snoopers, the only way to limit what Roku can see is to adjust the privacy settings on each of your Roku devices.
7/10
- Logging policy
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No-log policy
- Mobile app
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Android and iOS
DNS Blocking or Firewall Rules
Your Roku device can still reach out to Roku’s servers and advertising partners in the background. If you want to cut this traffic off at the source, you can use a DNS blocker like Pi-hole or AdGuard Home, or configure firewall rules on your router. By targeting known Roku telemetry domains (such as scribe.logs.roku.com), you can stop your device from sending data upstream. Just be careful, blocking too aggressively can interfere with software updates or cause certain apps to stop working, so it’s best to start with a small block list and test as you go. I’ve had issues with the Roku channel specifically when I tried to block too many Roku domains.
Put Roku on Its Own Network
Finally, for those really invested in privacy, you can isolate your Roku from the rest of your home network. Most modern routers allow you to create additional Wi-Fi networks or VLANs. By putting your Roku on its own network, you limit what it can see and interact with. It also makes it easier to monitor Roku’s traffic without affecting the rest of your household internet. This doesn’t stop Roku from phoning home entirely, but it does keep the data siloed and under closer control.
- Supported standards
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802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11g, 802.11n
- Speeds
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Up to 1,200 Mbps
Ultimately, I still like Roku for the same reasons I started using it years ago, it’s affordable, simple, and works almost anywhere. But that convenience comes with a trade-off. By flipping a few settings, limiting voice and ad tracking, and if you’re up for it, adding some network-level protection, you can keep Roku from collecting quite so much data. It won’t be perfect, but it puts you back in control, and in my book, that’s worth the effort.
