Texas Sues Five Major TV Makers Over Alleged User Viewing Surveillance

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on December 16 against five major television manufacturers—Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense, and TCL—accusing them of secretly monitoring user viewing behavior through automatic content recognition technology. ACR technology uses visual and audio data to identify content from TV programs, streaming services, YouTube, Blu-ray, security cameras, Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, and HDMI-connected devices. The manufacturers are accused of deceptively activating ACR, lacking transparency in information disclosure, and using the data for targeted advertising without user consent. The lawsuit also questions the connection of Hisense and TCL to the Chinese government, referring to them as “Chinese-sponsored surveillance devices.” This action aims to protect consumer privacy, violates the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and seeks court orders to prohibit data collection and impose fines. This reflects the ongoing data collection controversies in the tech industry and highlights the importance of privacy protection, with profound implications for the AI and cutting-edge technology sectors.