Texas sues TV makers for taking screenshots of what people watch

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense, and TCL, alleging their smart TVs use Automated Content Recognition to capture frequent on-screen data, track viewing in real time, and transmit it without consent for targeted advertising; the filing also flags potential exposure under Chinese National Security Law for the China-based vendors, references Vizio’s 2017 settlement for similar tracking, and cites the FTC’s 2022 alert urging consumers to adjust smart TV tracking settings, while most vendors declined comment and LG stated it does not generally comment on pending legal matters.