Roku: a TV that tracks what you watch, then sells you ads

Roku's TVs collect what you watch and use it to target ads, per consumerrights.wiki. Roku also tested video ads that play before you can reach the Roku OS home screen, and it added forced arbitration to its license agreement in the same month it disclosed a data breach.

Published Jun 29, 2026

What happened

Roku, Inc. is an American technology company known for its Smart TVs and streaming players, and creator of Roku OS.

Roku holds a patent on inserting an ad when content from an HDMI-connected device is paused, US12177520B2, "HDMI Customized Ad Insertion," granted 24 December 2024. consumerrights.wiki recorded it as not implemented on any Roku device as of January 2025.

In early March 2024, Roku updated its end-user license agreement to add a forced arbitration agreement barring users from suing or joining lawsuits against the company, and locked people out of their TVs and streaming players until they accepted it, per TechHive. Roku disclosed a breach affecting more than 15,000 accounts that same month.

In March 2025, reports surfaced that Roku was testing a new advertising feature that plays video ads before users could access the Roku OS home screen. Roku said it was a test; some users found a way to skip the ad, others said there was no clear way to bypass it.

In March 2026, a Roku OS change left over-the-air antenna channels unreachable when the TV had no internet connection. Roku told Cord Cutters News the change was inadvertent and said a fix was on the way.

FULU's takeaway

Roku said the pre-home-screen ads were a test. The arbitration terms weren't a test: owners had to accept them to keep using TVs they had already paid for.

Why this is a law problem

Most of these entries involve a digital lock guarding copyrighted software, and a lock like that sits under Section 1201 of the DMCA, 17 U.S.C. 1201. Subsection 1201(a)(1) makes it unlawful to bypass a lock that controls access to a copyrighted work, even when no copyright is infringed. Subsections 1201(a)(2) and 1201(b)(1) separately ban making or distributing the tools that do the bypassing.

Every three years the Librarian of Congress can exempt narrow classes of uses from the first ban. An exemption expires after three years and has to be re-argued, and the rulemaking has no authority over the tool bans, so a granted exemption still leaves no lawful supplier for the means to use it. FULU exists to reform or revoke this statute.

If you want this law changed, donations fund the work. FULU is a 501(c)(4). Donations to FULU are not tax-deductible, which is the tradeoff for being able to lobby without a limit.

Nothing on these pages says any company named here violated Section 1201. FULU is not a law firm, and this is not legal advice.

The original post

The slides below are the originals as posted. Where a slide and the text on this page disagree, go by the text; the text is the corrected, sourced record. Some slides also print an old wiki address that no longer works. The links on this page are current.

The third slide gives the 2024 breach as 15,000 accounts and reads the antenna failure as deliberate blocking; the sourced figure is more than 15,000, and Roku told Cord Cutters News the antenna problem was inadvertent and being fixed. The second slide's Netflix reactivation item is left out because this entry's sources don't document it.

Wall-mounted TV showing the Roku OS home screen with an Experian ad tile in the right rail.
Slide describing Roku, Inc. as the maker of Roku Smart TVs, streaming players, and Roku OS, followed by Roku's patent for inserting an ad when content from an HDMI-connected device is paused.
Slide listing the March 2024 forced arbitration EULA following a data breach affecting 15,000 accounts, March 2025 reports of video ads playing before the Roku OS home screen, and the March 2026 Roku OS change that left antenna channels unreachable without an internet connection.

Originally published as an Instagram carousel on Jun 29, 2026: See Instagram post.

Sources

This entry condenses Roku on consumerrights.wiki.

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