If smart TVs inaugurating an age of pervasive advertising surveillance is tragedy, here comes farce in record time: if you buy a new Vizio TV set, you'll need a Walmart account to go with it.
Without one, you won't be able to complete setup and access smart features, Ars Technica's Scharon Harding reports. Ars confirmed with the company that the requirement applies to "select new Vizio OS TVs," though a representative declined to specify which models are affected.
Vizio TVs already required a Vizio account, so the underlying data-collection model isn't new, it just got sold. Walmart acquired Vizio in 2024; tragedy, farce, tick tock.
The practical implications depend on where you're starting from. Customers who already hold a Vizio account will be offered the option to merge it with a Walmart account; those who'd rather not can delete their Vizio account instead. There's no word yet on whether the requirement will extend to previously purchased devices via software update.
Walmart, late to the game, now makes $6.4 billion in advertising revenue a year, with a 37% increase in 2025, according to the company's earnings report; Vizio contributed heavily to that figure.
The privacy payload: Walmart accounts could link your TV viewing to your purchase history, loyalty data, and shopping behavior.
For everyday consumers who'd prefer to keep their TV and their grocery habits separate, use an external box. Apple TV seems the best bet, as they don't co-operate with advertising tracking tech and have no incentive to. Even then, though, the channels and platforms you watch will still track your usage, which brings us to the only way to enjoy television in privacy.
Previously:
• Walmart buys Vizio for $3.2bn
• TV manufacturer Vizio makes more money selling data than TVs
• All smart TVs are watching you back, but Vizio's spyware never blinks
