<div id="readability-page-1"><div> AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for a Senate seat, is suing five major television companies, claiming they use their smart TVs to spy on Texans. According to a press release from Paxton’s office, the five corporations being sued are Sony, Samsung, and LG, as well as China-based companies Hisense and TCL Technology Group Corporation. Paxton’s complaint alleges that these companies have been “unlawfully collecting personal data through Automated Content Recognition (ACR) technology.” The press release describes ACR as an “uninvited, invisible digital invader,” and said it can capture screenshots of a user’s television display every 500 milliseconds, monitor viewing activity in real time, and transmit that information back to the company without the user’s knowledge or consent. Paxton alleged that the companies then sell that information to target ads across platforms for a profit. The release also alleged that the Chinese Communist Party has access to all of the ACR data collected. The attorney general also secured a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Hisense to prevent the company from “(1) collecting and (2) using, selling, sharing, disclosing, or transferring ACR data about Texans as the case continues through the courts.” “The days of Chinese tech companies spying on Americans’ televisions are over,” Paxton said in the release. “This TRO is a major victory for privacy rights and the movement to stop Big Tech companies from secretly watching Texans. Let this be a notice to every other company wanting to steal Americans’ data illegally that there will be consequence for their unlawful and unethical activity.” He also issued a consumer alert on Friday, warning Texans about the smart TVs spying capabilities, as well as providing general guidance on how to turn off the technology. While all smart TVs are different, below is general guidance that could be used to turn off certain data collection by some of the companies being facing legal action: <ul> <li>Press the Home button on your remote control to access the main menu. </li> <li>Navigate to and select Settings. </li> <li>In settings, find and select General, System or Intelligence settings from the list of options. </li> <li>Once new options appear, find and select Privacy, Terms &amp; Conditions, Privacy Choices or a similar option. </li> <li>Inside the privacy settings, look for options called Smart TV Experience, Viewing Information Services, or similar. </li> <li>Toggle these options OFF to disable ACR. </li> <li>There may be additional options in privacy settings to disable personalized advertising. These will often be called Personalized Ads, Interest-Based Advertising, Content Recommendation or similar. </li> <li>Some smart TVs might also have DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL DATA options. </li> </ul> </div></div>

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense, and TCL for allegedly using smart TVs to spy on Texans through Automated Content Recognition (ACR) technology. Paxton claims these companies collect personal data without consent and sell it for targeted ads. A temporary restraining order was secured against Hisense, and a consumer alert was issued to warn Texans about smart TV spying capabilities.

- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing five major television companies, claiming they use smart TVs to unlawfully collect personal data through Automated Content Recognition (ACR) technology.  
- The complaint alleges that this technology captures user information without consent and allows companies to profit by selling it, with concerns about access by the Chinese Communist Party.  
- Paxton secured a temporary restraining order against Hisense to prevent further collection and provided guidance to Texans on disabling data collection settings on their smart TVs.

Texas AG sues several TV companies, says smart TVs are ‘spying on Texans’