Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking direct aim at what he describes as a quiet but deeply invasive form of surveillance happening inside Texans’ living rooms—and, in some cases, at the hands of companies tied to the Chinese Communist Party.
On Monday, Paxton announced lawsuits against five major television manufacturers—Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense, and TCL—accusing them of secretly harvesting massive amounts of consumer data through a technology known as Automated Content Recognition, or ACR. According to the lawsuits, these companies embedded ACR software into smart TVs without properly informing consumers, allowing the devices to monitor viewing behavior inside private homes.
Paxton reserved his sharpest warnings for Hisense and TCL, both Chinese firms with documented ties to the CCP. Under China’s sweeping National Security Law, companies operating under Beijing’s influence can be compelled to hand over data to the Chinese government—no warrants, no transparency, and no meaningful legal resistance.
“Companies, especially those connected to the Chinese Communist Party, have no business illegally recording Americans’ devices inside their own homes,” Paxton said in a post announcing the lawsuits.
ACR technology works by capturing screenshots of a television’s display as frequently as every 500 milliseconds. That data is then used to track exactly what viewers are watching—across cable, streaming platforms, and connected devices—and transmitted back to manufacturers. From there, it is packaged, analyzed, and sold to third parties for advertising and behavioral profiling.
Paxton’s office argues that this level of surveillance goes far beyond marketing analytics. The lawsuits allege that the technology can capture sensitive information displayed on screens, potentially including passwords, financial data, or private communications—often without clear notice or meaningful consent.
According to the filings, the companies violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by concealing the scope of their data collection, misrepresenting how the data would be used, and deliberately burying opt-out options to ensure maximum data extraction. The state is seeking civil penalties, court-ordered injunctions to halt the practices, and mandates requiring clear and honest disclosures to consumers.
Hisense faces particular scrutiny, with Paxton warning that many new smart TVs activated over the holidays may have immediately begun monitoring Texans who had no idea what they agreed to—if they agreed to anything at all.
This lawsuit is part of a broader crackdown by Paxton on CCP-linked entities operating in Texas. Earlier this year, his office targeted Chinese-connected apps like CapCut and firms including Alibaba under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, demanding data deletion and consumer opt-out protections. In November, Paxton also launched an investigation into a CCP-tied company with links to Texas power infrastructure.
With nearly 70 percent of smart TVs sold in the U.S. coming from the brands named in the lawsuits, Paxton’s message is unmistakable: Texans do not forfeit their privacy when they buy a television—and Texas will not tolerate foreign adversaries quietly harvesting data inside American homes.
In an era where digital surveillance increasingly replaces physical spying, Texas is drawing a hard line—and daring Washington to keep up.
