Your smart TV may be too smart. A Texas lawmaker is suing five major TV makers, alleging that they are monitoring what you watch to create profiles and serve advertising… or worse.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Monday against Samsung, Sony, LG, TCL and Hisense, alleging in a press release that they “have been unlawfully collecting personal data through automated content recognition (“ACR”) technology.”
What ACR Does and Why You Should Care
Companies like LG, Hisense, Samsung and others apparently now use ACR to identify what you’re watching and connect you with relevant content, marketing and advertising.
Paxton’s lawsuit claims that these ACR systems can capture screenshots of viewing habits as frequently as 500 milliseconds and that TV manufacturers “transmit that information to the company without the user’s knowledge or consent.”
However, details specific to who you are, such as name, photographs, address, etc., are generally not part of that delivery. Instead, third-party partners obtain information about content interests, and broadcasters or television companies act as intermediaries, delivering recommendations for related content and advertising.
This is not the first time ACR systems have broken the law. In 2017, Vizo paid a $2 million fine to the FTC to resolve a claim that it was monitoring viewing histories without proper consent.
There is no doubt that these systems exist. On an LG TV tested in our labs, we spent some time navigating to a well-hidden Live Plus setting.
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Live Plus is LG’s version of ACR, and as LG describes it, when you enable it, “content displayed on your TV may be recognized and viewing information may be used to provide you with an enhanced viewing experience and personalized services including content recommendations and ads.”
We never enabled Live Plus and it seemed to be on by default. However, it’s also possible that during setup, the TV asked if we want “an enhanced, personalized viewing experience.” Who wouldn’t say yes to that?
Paxton’s concerns, however, 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 associated with the Chinese Communist Party, do not have to illegally record Americans’ devices inside their own homes,” Paxton said in the statement.
What’s next?
When we reached out to the manufacturers for comment, TCL told us it “does not comment on active litigation.” Sony told us it “does not comment on pending legal matters.” Hisense told us: “Hisense stands by the high quality of its products. As per company policy, we cannot comment further on matters of a litigious nature.” We have yet to receive a response from Samsung and LG.
Whatever happens with this lawsuit, it might be a good time to check your smart TV’s ACR settings, see if it’s enabled, and maybe disable it if you don’t want one of these companies to see what you’re watching.
Most reports we read say that disabling ACR disables all communications between the TVs and the ACR servers. Just remember that the next ads and TV show recommendations you see on your smart TV may have little to do with your interests.
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