Are Smart TVs Watching You? Major Manufacturers Face Lawsuit in the US
As smart televisions become an essential part of modern living rooms, concerns about what these devices do behind the scenes are growing louder. A new lawsuit filed in the US state of Texas has turned these concerns into a full-scale legal battle. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued five major TV manufacturers—Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense, and TCL—accusing them of secretly tracking users’ viewing habits without proper consent.
According to the Attorney General’s office, the companies rely on a technology known as Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) to collect vast amounts of personal data. This system allegedly captures screenshots from the TV display every 500 milliseconds, monitors viewing activity in real time, and transmits this information to company servers without users’ awareness. Officials describe ACR as an “invisible digital intruder” operating quietly in the background.
The data collected reportedly goes far beyond simple viewing preferences. It includes information about streaming platforms, cable channels, and even connected devices such as gaming consoles and Blu-ray players. These details are then used to build detailed behavioral profiles, which are sold for cross-platform targeted advertising. Authorities warn that this practice puts consumer privacy at risk and could even expose sensitive information such as passwords or financial data.
Texas claims the companies have violated the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act and is seeking penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, or as much as $250,000 when seniors aged 65 and older are affected. The state is also asking the court to halt the collection, sharing, and sale of ACR data while the cases are ongoing.
Officials argue that offering personalized content or targeted advertising does not justify collecting data on such a massive scale. The lawsuits describe the companies’ “insatiable appetite for consumer data” as far exceeding reasonable needs, driven primarily by the pursuit of advertising revenue.
Surveillance in the Living Room?
Concerns over smart TV privacy are not new. A report published last year by the Center for Digital Democracy warned that viewer surveillance is now built directly into connected television devices, effectively turning manufacturers into central players in the digital marketing ecosystem. While companies claim ACR operates on user consent, the report notes that the technology is embedded during initial setup and that the full scope of data collection is rarely explained in clear terms.
Focus on Chinese Manufacturers
Paxton’s statements place special emphasis on Chinese-based brands Hisense and TCL. He argues that China’s National Security Law could force these companies to share data with the Chinese government, potentially giving foreign authorities access to information from American households. “Companies tied to the Chinese Communist Party have no right to illegally monitor devices inside Americans’ homes,” Paxton said.
The lawsuits claim that these televisions are no longer just entertainment devices, but have effectively become mass surveillance tools in millions of homes. Systems marketed as enhancing user experience are accused of tracking and analyzing everything viewers watch, solely for commercial gain.
“Opting Out Is Intentionally Difficult”
Another key issue raised in the cases is the quality of user consent. Complaints against Samsung, in particular, argue that disclosures about ACR are buried in dense legal language and fail to constitute meaningful consent. Users are presented with a single “Accept All” button during setup, while disabling tracking requires navigating through multiple menus and settings. According to the filings, fully turning off ACR and related ad tracking on Samsung TVs requires disabling at least two separate options.
The lawsuit has reignited a broader debate about the trade-off between convenience and privacy, raising an uncomfortable question for consumers everywhere: are our televisions merely entertaining us, or are they quietly watching us in return?
