Texas AG sues smart TV makers over data privacy

(CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued five major smart TV manufacturers Monday, accusing them of violating users’ data privacy.

In complaints filed in several Texas state courts, Paxton claims smart TVs made by Sony, Samsung and LG, as well as China-based Hisense and TCL use technology known as automated content recognition to capture real-time audio and visual data of what is shown on the TV in order to track the content users are watching. This information is then used for targeted advertising, Paxton says.

Paxton asserts that the technology doesn’t just capture TV shows but anything that is shown on a smart TV’s screen, including security and doorbell camera feeds and video or photos sent via Google Cast or Apple Airplay, as well as data from other devices connected to the Smart TV by HDMI.

Paxton claims the companies have failed to adequately notify users about the use of automated content recognition technology in their smart TVs in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

“Sony’s Smart TVs are watching you back,” Paxton says in one of the complaints. “Sony Smart TVs aren’t just entertainment devices—they’re a mass surveillance system sitting in millions of American living rooms. What consumers were told would enhance their viewing experience actually tracks, analyzes, and sells intimate details about everything they watch.”

Spokespeople for LG Electronics USA, Hisense and Sony Electronics told Courthouse News their companies do not comment on pending litigation. The other defendant companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Paxton also claims that smart TVs made by Hisense and TCL, which are partially owned by the Chinese government, pose an additional risk to users’ privacy, as Chinese law requires the companies to share users’ data with the Chinese Communist Party upon request.

“Nowhere does TCL disclose to Texas consumers that every image and sound on their TCL Smart TV is collected, stored, and will be shared with the [Chinese Communist Party] upon request,” Paxton says in his lawsuit against TCL. “The CCP may use the ACR data it collects from its Smart TVs to influence or compromise public figures in Texas, including judges, elected officials, and law enforcement, and for corporate espionage by surveilling those employed in critical infrastructure, as part of the CCP’s long-term plan to destabilize and undermine American democracy.”

In a statement announcing the lawsuit, Paxton said, “Companies, especially those connected to the Chinese Communist Party, have no business illegally recording Americans’ devices inside their own homes."

“This conduct is invasive, deceptive, and unlawful," he added. “The fundamental right to privacy will be protected in Texas because owning a television does not mean surrendering your personal information to Big Tech or foreign adversaries.”