Texas sues biggest TV makers, alleging smart TVs spy on users without consent

29 pointsposted 10 hours ago
by c420
(arstechnica.com)

13 Comments

labrador

10 hours ago

Only Texas government officials are allowed to spy on Texans. Abortion law enforcment specifically

Texas District Court Vacates HIPAA Reproductive Healthcare Rule

https://www.goodwinlaw.com/en/insights/publications/2025/06/...

Dig1t

7 hours ago

It’s impossible to offer any differing opinions or discussion on the differences between the smart TV thing and your whataboutism without triggering a flame war and being downvoted to oblivion.

What does this have to do at all with the posted article about smart TV’s?

labrador

3 hours ago

You're right, it's not a productive comment and I would delete it if I could. I don't like how Texas Republicans operate but that's another topic.

c420

10 hours ago

"The TVs “are effectively Chinese-sponsored surveillance devices, recording the viewing habits of Texans at every turn without their knowledge or consent,” the lawsuits said."

This explains why Vizio, who is owned by Walmart, was not sued.

user

10 hours ago

[deleted]

smileybarry

10 hours ago

And of course: casual reminder that Vizio does extensive ACR and ad targeting, and even bought a company doing it to facilitate that:

> In August 2015, Vizio acquired Cognitive Media Networks, Inc, a provider of automatic content recognition (ACR). Cognitive Media Networks was subsequently renamed Inscape Data. Inscape functioned as an independent entity until the end of 2020, when it was combined with Vizio Ads and SmartCast; the three divisions combining to operate as a single unit.[1]

But I'm sure Texans are fully aware and consented to this, right?

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizio

wkat4242

9 hours ago

So.. if it was American companies doing the spying it would be a different story?

user

10 hours ago

[deleted]

duxup

10 hours ago

I wish my Apple TV could take multiple pass through inputs.

From there I could pick an app or input on the Apple TV and then I'm good.

That's all I want, nothing these TVs try to provide I want, quite the opposite.

I loathe ending up on the TV menu...

smileybarry

10 hours ago

That still doesn't escape ACR, AFAIK. These "smart" TVs still capture screenshots from HDMI inputs.

That's one of the reasons I only buy Sony for years now. ACR & the like are opt-out at the first terms/privacy screen, and you can even go into Android/Google TV settings and just disable the APK responsible. (Samba something-something)

danudey

9 hours ago

I googled how to disable ACR on my new Samsung TV. Followed the instructions only to find out that it was disabled already. That, combined with a built-in physical microphone switch (which I noticed in the quick start guide before I'd even attached the wall mount) made me quite impressed with Samsung off the bat.

It does have some weird behaviors, though, like occasionally letting me know it has some kind of AI features or something, or bringing up a pop-up on the screen letting my kid know how to use the volume control on the remote every time he uses the volume control on the remote for the first time since power-on.

Still, a pretty decent TV nonetheless.

kelseyfrog

9 hours ago

Pro plaintif not only because of privacy concerns, but if it raises the cost of televisions by introducing a production inefficiency, it is one step against the Baumol Effect.