Key Points
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued five major smart TV makers, alleging unlawful collection and monetization of users’ viewing data.
- The lawsuits claim automated content recognition tracks everything displayed on smart TVs without clear consumer disclosure.
- Complaints against Hisense and TCL also raise national security concerns tied to alleged data-sharing risks with China.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week filed a state lawsuit against LG Electronics and four other smart television manufacturers, alleging the companies improperly collect the personal viewing habits of users to deliver targeted advertising without conspicuous disclosures.
In multiple complaints filed in courts across the state, Paxton accused LG and its four peers — Sony, Samsung, Hisense and TCL — of using automated content recognition technology to capture real-time audio and visual data from smart TVs.
According to the lawsuits, the technology tracks what consumers watch and uses that information for targeted advertising and other commercial purposes.
Paxton alleges the data collection extends well beyond traditional television programming. The complaints claim automated content recognition can capture anything displayed on a smart TV screen, including security camera and doorbell feeds, photos and videos shared through Google Cast or Apple AirPlay, and content from external devices connected via HDMI.
He further alleged the companies failed to clearly inform consumers about the scope and nature of this data collection, violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The lawsuits contend that disclosures, where they exist, are insufficient for consumers to understand how extensively their in-home viewing activity is monitored.
“Sony’s Smart TVs are watching you back,” Paxton said in one of the complaints. He characterized smart TVs as “a mass surveillance system sitting in millions of American living rooms,” alleging that data marketed as a way to enhance viewing experiences is instead used to analyze and sell detailed information about users’ behavior.
The lawsuits against Hisense and TCL include additional claims related to national security. Paxton alleges the companies’ partial ties to the Chinese government pose heightened privacy risks, citing Chinese laws that require companies to share data with the Chinese Communist Party upon request. One complaint alleges TCL does not disclose to Texas consumers that data collected through its smart TVs could be shared with the Chinese government.
Paxton further claimed such data could be used to influence or compromise public officials, law enforcement and employees in critical infrastructure sectors.
In a statement announcing the legal action, Paxton said companies “have no business illegally recording Americans’ devices inside their own homes,” calling the alleged practices invasive, deceptive and unlawful.
None of the five companies listed as defendants have made public comments about the lawsuits, and it isn’t clear if they have had an opportunity to review them.
