Ken Paxton Sues TV Companies Over Alleged Consumer Surveillance

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against five major television manufacturers, alleging they illegally collected and sold Texans' private viewing data without consent. The lawsuit targets Sony, Samsung, LG, and Chinese-based companies Hisense and TCL Technology Group Corporation.

According to the filing, the companies used Automated Content Recognition (ACR) technology to secretly monitor what consumers watch inside their homes. The technology allegedly captures screenshots of television displays every 500 milliseconds, tracks viewing behavior in real time, and transmits that data back to the companies for commercial use.

Paxton's office argues that the companies then sold this data to third parties to facilitate targeted advertising across multiple platforms, all without adequately informing consumers or obtaining their permission.

The lawsuit further claims that ACR technology exposes sensitive personal information, including passwords, financial data, and other private content displayed on television screens.

The involvement of Hisense and TCL has raised additional concerns due to their ties to China. The Attorney General's Office cited China's National Security Law, which can compel companies to provide data to the Chinese government, as a heightened risk to U.S. consumer privacy and security.

"Companies, especially those connected to the Chinese Communist Party, have no business illegally recording Americans' devices inside their own homes," said Paxton. "This conduct is invasive, deceptive, and unlawful."

The Attorney General's office stated it will continue to pursue enforcement actions against corporations engaged in deceptive or exploitative practices and emphasized its ongoing focus on protecting Texans from foreign data harvesting and privacy violations.