The state of Texas has brought a formal legal complaint against Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense, and TCL, according to coverage from BleepingComputer.
The action stems from claims that these manufacturers employed Automated Content Recognition (ACR) software, which captures images of viewed content at a rate of two per second and transmits the data to servers located in Japan, South Korea, and China.
According to the state's official announcement, the case targets these prominent television producers for monitoring Texas residents by covertly capturing footage of viewing habits within private residences.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stated: 'Firms, particularly those linked to the Chinese Communist Party, have no right to unlawfully capture data from Americans' personal devices in their living spaces.' He added: 'Such actions are intrusive, misleading, and illegal. Texas will safeguard the core principle of privacy, ensuring that purchasing a television does not equate to yielding personal data to large technology entities or international rivals.'
Should these claims hold, they would represent a significant violation of consumer privacy in the realm of intelligent televisions, which have long been criticized for lacking robust data protections. With internet-enabled models becoming increasingly dominant and non-connected options scarce, this development underscores the risks of constant online connectivity for household devices.
The full legal documents for each manufacturer are accessible here: Sony (PDF), Samsung (PDF), LG (PDF), Hisense (PDF), TCL (PDF).