Your smart TV may be too smart. A Texas lawmaker is suing five major TV manufacturers, alleging they track what you watch to create profiles and serve ads… or worse.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit on Monday against Samsung, Sony, LG, TKLAnd Hisenseclaiming in a press release that they “illegally collected personal data through Automatic content recognition (“ACR”) technologies.”
What ACR does and why you might be concerned
Companies like LG, Hisense, Samsung and others are apparently now using ACR to identify what you're watching and link you to relevant content, marketing and advertising.
Paxton's lawsuit alleges that these ACR systems can take screenshots of viewing habits every 500 milliseconds, and that TV manufacturers “share this information back to the company without the user's knowledge or consent.”
However, as a general rule, data relating to you such as name, photographs, address, etc. are not part of this delivery. Instead, third-party partners receive information about content interests, and TVs or broadcasters act as intermediaries, providing relevant content recommendations and advertising.
This is not the first time ACR systems have broken the law. Back in 2017, Vizo paid the Federal Trade Commission a $2 million fine to settle a lawsuit alleging it tracked browsing history. without proper consent.
There is no doubt that such systems exist. On the LG test TV in our lab, we spent some time switching to the well-hidden Live Plus setting.
Image 1 from 6
Live Plus is LG's version of ACR, and as LG describes it, when enabled, “content displayed on your TV can be recognized and viewing information can be used to provide you with an enhanced viewing experience and personalized services, including content recommendations and advertising.”
We never turned on Live Plus and it turns out it's turned on by default. However, it's also possible that during setup the TV asked if we wanted an “enhanced and personalized viewing experience.” Who wouldn't say yes to this?
But Paxton's concerns go beyond mere advertising and marketing. He notes that some of these TV companies, such as TCL and Hisense, are based in China. “Companies, especially those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, cannot illegally record the devices of Americans in their own homes,” Paxton said in a press release.
What's next
When we reached out to manufacturers for comment, TCL told us it “does not comment on active litigation.” Sony told us it “does not comment on ongoing legal matters.” Hisense told us: “Hisense guarantees the high quality of its products. In accordance with company policy, we are unable to comment further on topics of a controversial nature.” We have not yet received a response from Samsung and LG.
Whatever happens with this lawsuit, now might be a good time to check your smart TV's ACR settings, see if they're enabled, and maybe disable them if you don't want one of these companies watching what you're watching.
Most reports we read said that disabling ACR turns turn off all communications between TVs and ACR servers. Remember: the next ads and TV show recommendations you see on your Smart TV may have little to do with your interests.
Follow TechRadar on Google News. And add us as your preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the “Subscribe” button!
And of course you can also Follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxing videos and get regular updates from us on whatsapp too much.
The best TVs for every budget.
