Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued five major television companies for illegally collecting user data. The companies are accused of secretly recording what people watch using technology called Automated Content Recognition, or ACR. The accused companies include Sony, Samsung, and LG, along with Chinese companies Hisense and TCL Technology Group Corporation.
According to Bleeping Computer, the lawsuits were filed this Monday in Texas state courts. They explain how invasive this technology really is. ACR takes screenshots of your TV display every 500 milliseconds, which means twice every second. It constantly tracks what you’re watching in real time. This information gets sent to the companies’ servers without your knowledge or permission.
The companies allegedly sell this collected data to advertisers for targeted ads. But the problem gets worse with the Chinese companies involved. Paxton’s office raised serious concerns about Hisense and TCL. These companies must follow China’s National Security Law, which means the Chinese government could potentially access private viewing data from American consumers.
Big Tech companies shouldn’t turn your living room into a surveillance zone
Paxton made his position clear, saying that companies connected to the Chinese Communist Party have no right to illegally record Americans’ devices inside their homes. He said Texas will protect the right to privacy because owning a television shouldn’t mean giving up your personal information to Big Tech or foreign governments. This isn’t the first legal battle Texas has taken on recently.
“This conduct is invasive, deceptive, and unlawful. The fundamental right to privacy will be protected in Texas because owning a television does not mean surrendering your personal information to Big Tech or foreign adversaries,” his office said.
This isn’t the first time TV makers have been caught doing this. Nearly ten years ago, Vizio faced similar charges. In February 2017, Vizio paid $2.2 million to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission and New Jersey Attorney General. That case involved Vizio collecting viewing data from 11 million customers without permission using a feature called Smart Interactivity.
Vizio had been making and selling smart TVs since February 2014. The company even put tracking software on older TV models remotely. This software captured detailed information about what people watched, including cable shows, streaming content, and DVDs. Vizio also attached personal information like age, sex, income, and education to the data before selling it to advertisers.
Sony, Samsung, Hisense, and TCL have not commented on the lawsuits yet. An LG spokesperson said the company doesn’t usually comment on ongoing legal cases. Other Texas stories have made headlines for completely different reasons lately.
If you’re worried about your smart TV spying on you, you can take action. In August 2022, the FTC published advice telling Americans to protect their privacy by changing tracking settings on their internet-connected devices. You should check your TV’s menu settings and turn off any feature that mentions smart interactivity or content recognition. You shouldn’t have to worry about your TV selling your information just because you want to watch a movie.
Published: Dec 17, 2025 12:45 pm