The State of Texas and Samsung have reached a settlement over the collection of Texans’ viewing habits through smart TVs.

In December 2025, Samsung, Sony, LG, Hisense, and TCL Technology Group were sued by the State of Texas.

According to Attorney General Ken Paxton, these companies had been illegally collecting personal data through Automated Content Recognition (ACR) technology.

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.

Attorney General Paxton called this “invasive, deceptive, and unlawful” and an infringement of Texans’ privacy.

“When families buy a television, they don’t expect it to spy on them. They don’t expect their viewing habits to be packaged and auctioned to advertisers. Yet Samsung deceptively guides consumers to activate ACR and buries any explanation of what that means in dense legal jargon that few will read or understand,” the indictment said.

Have thoughts about this topic? Others do, too. Join them in the discussion.

One of the defendants, Samsung, has now agreed to halt its ARC viewing data collection without first obtaining consumers’ express consent. In addition, Samsung has agreed to update its smart TVs to show a consent screen so Texans can make an informed decision.

“I commend Samsung for being one of the first smart TV companies in the world to make these important changes,” Attorney General Paxton said in a statement.

“Texans must be fully informed about whether their data is collected and be in full control of how it’s used. The changes outlined in this agreement help accomplish both of those aims and are an important step forward in reforming smart TV manufacturers’ data collection practices,” he continued.

The cases against Sony, LG, Hisense, and TCL Technology Group are still ongoing and have not been settled.

---

Unlock more exclusive Cybernews content on YouTube.