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*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

December 19, 2025

www.texasattorneygeneral.gov




*PRESS OFFICE: (512) 463-2050*

[email protected]





 

*CONSUMER ALERT: Ken Paxton Warns Texans About CCP-Aligned Smart TVs that are Spying on Them *

 

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton is issuing a consumer alert both warning Texans about the dangers of smart TVs spying on them, as well as providing general guidance as to how to turn off the invasive technology.  

 

Earlier this week, Ken Paxton sued five major TV companies, including some with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, for spying on Texans by using Automated Content Recognition (“ACR”) technology. The companies sued [ [link removed] ] were Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense, and TCL Technology Group. Attorney General Paxton has already secured [ [link removed] ] a TRO against Hisense that stops the company from collecting, using, selling, sharing, disclosing, or transferring the data.  

 

“I’d urge Texans TV shopping for Christmas to avoid purchasing a television that allows Big Tech to illegally collect your data,” said Attorney General Paxton. “All across Texas, there are smart TVs acting as an uninvited, invisible digital invaders. It's vital that all Texans know that your TV may be monitoring and recording everything that happens on your screen.”  

 

While all smart TVs are different, below is general guidance that could be used to turn off certain data collection by some of the TV companies currently being sued by Attorney General Paxton:  


* Press the *Home* button on your remote control to access the main menu. 

* Navigate to and select *Settings*. 

* In settings, find and select *General, System* or *Intelligence* settings from the list of options. 

* Once new options appear, find and select *Privacy, Terms & Conditions, Privacy Choices* or a similar option. 

* Inside the privacy settings, look for options called *Smart TV Experience, Viewing Information Services*, or similar. 

* Toggle these options *OFF* to disable ACR. 

* There may be additional options in privacy settings to disable personalized advertising. These will often be called *Personalized Ads, Interest-Based Advertising, Content Recommendation* or similar. 

* Some smart TVs might also have *DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL DATA* options. 

   

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