AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a temporary restraining order against Samsung, halting the company’s use of technology that allowed it to spy on Texans in their own homes.
According to a release from Paxton’s office, Samsung is one of the five major TV companies that was found to have been collecting personal user data through Automated Content Recognition technology. This technology captured screenshots of its TVs every 500 milliseconds without the knowledge and consent of consumers, flagrantly violating Texas law.
“The days of Big Tech digitally invading Americans' homes and spying on them are over,” Paxton said. “The right to privacy is fundamental, yet for too long smart TV manufacturers like Samsung were secretly using advanced technology to spy on Texans without their knowledge. Now, after filing our lawsuit just a few weeks ago, we’ve secured a court order stopping this unlawful monitoring. This is a major win for Texans and for digital privacy.”
The TRO secured by Attorney General Paxton prevents Samsung and all other persons in active concert or participation with the company from continuing to use, sell, transfer, collect, or share ACR data relating to Texas consumers. The District Court found that there was good cause to believe that Samsung’s actions violated, or were likely to violate, the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
