AG Paxton sues five television manufacturers for allegedly spying on Texans

AUSTIN, Texas (KVIA) -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing five television manufacturers he says have been "spying on Texans by secretly recording what consumers watch in their own homes."

Paxton's office says that Sony, Samsung, LG, and Hisense and TCL Technology Group Corporation are all listed in the lawsuit. Paxton's office singled out Hisense and TCL, both based in China, specifically for ties with China that pose serious concerns about consumer data harvesting.

"These companies have been unlawfully collecting personal data through Automated Content Recognition ('ACR') technology," Paxton's office explained. "ACR in its simplest terms is an uninvited, invisible digital invader. This software 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. The companies then sell that consumer information to target ads across platforms for a profit. This technology puts users’ privacy and sensitive information, such as passwords, bank information, and other personal information at risk."