Devices with ACR can allow for the collection of content consumption information automatically at the screen or speaker level itself, without any user-based input or search efforts.
This information may be collected for purposes such as personalized advertising, content recommendations, or sale to companies that aggregate customer data.
[3] This makes employment of acoustic fingerprinting possible across various networks and channels[clarification needed] and is widely used for interactive TV, second screen application, and content monitoring sectors.
[4][5] Popular apps like Shazam, YouTube, Facebook,[6] TheTake, WeChat and Weibo reportedly use audio fingerprinting methodology to recognize content played from a TV to trigger additional features like votes, lotteries, topics or purchases.
By utilizing its own fingerprint technology to identify live channels and videos, Shazam extended their business to television programming.
ACR technology helps these companies survey the interests of customers and collect data so that they can be more precisely targeted with personalized marketing and advertising campaigns.
[2] Organizations ranging from consumer rights advocates Electronic Frontier Foundation to tech web sites such as PCMag have expressed serious objections to the collection of user viewing consumption habits by their devices on privacy grounds.