If anyone knows how to permanently disable broadcasting, please feel free to chime in.

Are you sure you didn't set the setting to Broadcast?

Anyway, There is an Option to turn it off completely.

Steam -> Settings -> Broadcasting -> Privacy setting -> Broadcasting Disabled

If you view your profile, Steam will offer to watch your Stream while you're in game, it does not matter what setting your have it set at. (It will say that the "XXX's broadcast is not available at this time.") I personally I find this not ideal. I hope the button will not appear when the streaming is not going to be available.

The ability to disable broadcasting is actually built into the feature itself. The first time someone tries to watch you play games you will get an alert allowing you to determine who you want to be able to watch you play. One of the options will be to disable broadcasting to anyone.

引用自 M I Abrahms：

The ability to disable broadcasting is actually built into the feature itself. The first time someone tries to watch you play games you will get an alert allowing you to determine who you want to be able to watch you play. One of the options will be to disable broadcasting to anyone.

I've never seen any message like that. The only time I've ever messed with broadcasting was when I tried to view someone else on the Game Hub. Steam let me know that something wasn't compatible, and I left it at that.

Since posting, I've closed out Steam and logged back in. Now I see that broadcasting is disabled and all other options are hidden in that section of the Steam Settings. Either Steam reps took action very quickly, or Steam just needed to be updated. Either way, problem solved.

It's kind of horrifying to think about what I've been broadcasting all this time. All the private conversations in-game, and who knows what else. Not to mention the problems and delays it's caused with my less than standard hardware...

引用自 InsaneFirebat：

引用自 M I Abrahms：

The ability to disable broadcasting is actually built into the feature itself. The first time someone tries to watch you play games you will get an alert allowing you to determine who you want to be able to watch you play. One of the options will be to disable broadcasting to anyone.

I've never seen any message like that. The only time I've ever messed with broadcasting was when I tried to view someone else on the Game Hub. Steam let me know that something wasn't compatible, and I left it at that.

Since posting, I've closed out Steam and logged back in. Now I see that broadcasting is disabled and all other options are hidden in that section of the Steam Settings. Either Steam reps took action very quickly, or Steam just needed to be updated. Either way, problem solved.

It's kind of horrifying to think about what I've been broadcasting all this time. All the private conversations in-game, and who knows what else. Not to mention the problems and delays it's caused with my less than standard hardware...

Unless you checked the option that says "Record my desktop when not in game" steam does not record anything other than your game. It does not even record steam chat.

Now what steam does record is anything you say on the mic if you have it enabled or anything coming out of your PC speakers which include but not limited to things your friends may say in multiplayer sessions or audio you have playing in the background so that you should be careful with.

引用自 InsaneFirebat：

Let me start by saying that I'm very angry that steam is broadcasting my gameplay without my consent or knowledge. I don't appreciate my privacy being compromised. There is no reason that Steam should be streaming my games. I did not choose any such option, nor did this appear in any agreement that I've been prompted with. It's not cool, and I'm not paying money to Steam so long as this continues. My gameplay is my own business. Keep it that way or I'll find somewhere else to play.

Same here for me, i never enabled it, ive never tried to view anyone else broadcasting. just one day out the the blue, it started saying in the top right that i was broadcasting. i went and changed it, but then i changed itself back again, who knows what someone has watched me play or heard me say. very scary indeed

By default only friends can view it. So a friend likely seen a game you were playing, right clicked your name and clicked (Watch).
Once that happens, If broadcast is working correctly, you'll get a notification showing it was started.
The system will also only broadcast in-game game-play. It's locked to the app running/game from steam. Once you exit the game, the stream ends/closes.
Steam is very protective of this.

This thread is more than a decade old. None of that was true back then. Obviously, things have improved since.