How to Delete Your Roku Data (and What the Fox Deal Means for It)
Roku now belongs to Fox Corporation. The technology at the center of this is one most owners have never heard of.
You cannot opt out of everything, but you can cut most of it. Turn off ACR and Personalized Ads on the device, file a deletion request at privacy.roku.com/contact, and factory reset before the device changes hands. The request, not the wipe, is what addresses the data Roku already holds.
Below, the four actions that put you back in control, in the order that works.
What the Fox Deal Changes
Fox Corporation completed its $22 billion acquisition of Roku on November 6, 2026, and the Roku privacy policy was updated the same day. The policy names the operating entity as Roku, LLC, and defines its Company Affiliates by reference to Fox's own corporate site (Roku Privacy Policy). Fox's press release lists the portfolio now sharing the platform, from FOX News Media and FOX Sports to FOX Digital Platforms, which includes Roku and Tubi (Fox Corporation).
The policy routes personal information, including sensitive categories, to those affiliates for ad purposes.
"L. Personal Information that reveals racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, union membership, health, and wellness information" is disclosed to "Company Affiliates (to help you discover content and provide a more tailored experience on the Roku Services or Company Affiliate services, for analytics and reporting purposes by the Company Affiliates, or to bring you more relevant ads and report on effectiveness of ad campaigns)."
That is the backdrop. The controls decide what Roku gets in the first place.
What Automatic Content Recognition Actually Is
Automatic Content Recognition, or ACR, is the setting that watches what plays on your screen and reports it back. It works whether the content comes from Roku's own apps or from something plugged into the TV, like a game console, a Blu-ray player, or another entertainment device.
Roku's own explainer compares the process to a music identification app such as Shazam. ACR builds an encrypted fingerprint from a sample of pixels on your screen and matches it against Roku's catalog of content, games, and ads. Content outside the catalog gets no match, so personal videos stay out of range (Roku Support).
Same idea as Shazam, except the TV samples your screen every second.
What ACR collects is broader than most people expect. The policy says it covers what you watch via your TV's antenna, cable box, game console, media player, or other connected devices (Roku Privacy Policy). Plug in a PlayStation and the sessions can still be logged.
The same umbrella reaches the legacy media many households still play. A Blu-ray player or a DVD player plugged into the TV is one of those other connected devices, and its sessions can be logged too.
What You Can Control Today
What you can control depends on the device you own. Roku TVs carry the Smart TV Experience settings, where ACR lives. Players and soundbars expose a different privacy menu, with advertising, voice, and privacy choices but no ACR option. The on-device menu is the ground truth.
Turn Off ACR
On a Roku TV, the device path is straightforward.
- Press Home on the remote.
- Choose Settings from the left-hand menu.
- Select Privacy, then Smart TV Experience.
- De-select Automatic Content Recognition (ACR).
You can do the same from a browser. Sign in at my.roku.com, open Privacy Settings, choose Smart TV Experience, and toggle the setting to NO. The default state is NO, so it may already be off.
What turning ACR off does and does not do, in Roku's own words.
"If you disable this setting, Roku will not use ACR on your devices, but Roku still receives information about your interactions and streaming activities on your devices through other methods. For example, Roku will still collect information about your viewing or interactions with third-party streaming apps, The Roku Channel, the Streaming Store, the Roku Home screen, and ads enabled by Roku (including ads appearing in third-party streaming apps on your devices), as well as information that third-party streaming app providers may provide to Roku."
So ACR off stops the screen-fingerprinting path. It does not stop Roku's other collection methods. And Roku Support is blunt about the ledger. Data collected while ACR was enabled stays with Roku after you switch the setting off (Roku Support).
Independent testing backs the point. A Northeastern University study covered by Ars Technica found traffic to ACR endpoints persisting after opt-out on the tested TVs, tied for Roku to The Roku Channel. The researchers could not confirm the payloads because of encryption, so they call the residual traffic suspicious rather than proven.
One related setting deserves the same treatment. Content Viewing Disclosure sits in the same menu with an identical de-select path. For per-title withdrawal, the policy lists ContentViewingDisclosureOptOut@roku.com.
On a Player or Soundbar
My own device is a Roku Streambar, and its Privacy menu carries no Smart TV Experience option at all. The published policy frames ACR under the Smart TV Experience and points you back to your own device, because the data collected varies by device (Roku Privacy Policy). If your box is a player or soundbar, these three menus are the levers, and each one is worth a click.
- Advertising. Select Reset advertising identifier to clear the ad ID Roku has built up, then de-select Personalized Ads.
- Voice. Leave speech recognition unchecked, and set microphone access to never allow.
- My Privacy Choices. Select Do not share or sell my information, and Limit use of sensitive information.
Limit Personalized Ads
On a Roku TV, the second setting is the ad-tracking limit. Older guides call it "Limit ad tracking". The current Roku label is Personalized Ads, and that is what you will see on screen.
The path is Settings, then Privacy, then Advertising. De-select Personalized Ads. You can also reach it on the web at privacy.roku.com/personalization, or reset the advertising ID in the same menu with Reset Advertising Identifier.
The setting is narrower than its name. With Personalized Ads off, Roku stops personalizing the ads you see on your account, but the ads keep running and stay contextual, shaped by what you are watching. Third-party channels on a player or TV model can ignore the setting entirely (Roku Privacy Policy).
These two settings reduce collection and personalization. They are not an off switch. What Roku already holds is the next section.
File the Roku Data Deletion Request
The settings above change what gets collected going forward. The deletion request addresses what Roku already has, and the distinction is the same one that applies when you delete an app from your phone.
The policy invites you to ask for access, correction, or deletion of your personal information, and reserves the right to decline requests that are unreasonable or prohibited by law (Roku Privacy Policy). The request form sits at privacy.roku.com/contact. Your Privacy Choices at privacy.roku.com/info/ccpa is the other entry point. The policy also lists the email fallback privacy@roku.com and a postal address at Roku, LLC, Attention: Legal Department, 1173 Coleman Avenue, San Jose, CA 95110.
Verification depends on what you still have. With a Roku account, Roku verifies by login. Without one, it falls back to data elements it may already hold, such as device type, device ID, and cookie ID (Roku Privacy Policy). That is one reason to file the request before handing the device off.
Roku publishes no deletion timeline and no exact deletion scope.
One ordering note from real experience. In one household we reviewed, the sequence was cancel subscriptions, sell or hand off the device, then file the deletion request, because verification runs through the account and device identifiers.
One distinction. Closing your Roku account is not the same as a deletion request. Roku Support is explicit that a closed account cannot be reactivated (Roku Support), so cancel subscriptions first and only deactivate if that is genuinely your intent.
Factory Reset Before Selling or Gifting
The device-side wipe is the last step. Roku Support lists what the process does (Roku Support).
- Erases most of the data on the device, including your personal preferences.
- Unlinks the device from your Roku account, removing all apps and account information.
- Resets all settings and returns the device to a state ready for initial setup.
The menu path is Home, then Settings, then System, then Advanced system settings, then Factory reset. On a Roku TV, select Factory reset everything. On players and projectors, a physical reset button on the back or bottom does the same job; hold it about 10 seconds until the status LED blinks rapidly. Newer TV models use Power plus Find My Remote for 12 seconds.
Two practical notes before you wipe. The buyer sets up their own account during Guided Setup, because the device must be linked to a Roku account. And cancel subscriptions first, since the reset unlinks the account and leaves them orphaned.
The reset covers the device, not Roku's servers. Data already collected is retained by Roku, per the support article quoted earlier, and the retention window is open-ended.
"Personal information we collect may be retained for as long as needed to fulfill legitimate business purposes, including the purposes outlined in 'Information Usage' under Part II, or for a time period specifically required or allowed by applicable regulations or laws."
That is why the deletion request above matters even after the wipe. The reset clears the hardware. The request speaks to the server.
