A Texas judge has issued a temporary restraining order barring Chinese smart TV maker Hisense from gathering or sharing viewer data from residents in the state, following allegations by Attorney General Ken Paxton that the company was unlawfully spying on consumers through hidden monitoring technology.
The order, announced on Wednesday, halts Hisense’s use of automated content recognition, or ACR, which Paxton described as “an uninvited, invisible digital invader” that captures sounds and images from TVs every 500 milliseconds and transmits the information without user permission.
The technology is designed to track viewing and listening habits for content recommendations and targeted ads, but typically requires opt-in consent — a step Paxton claims the company skipped.
Paxton’s office secured the first-of-its-kind order days after filing a lawsuit against Hisense and four other major technology firms over privacy violations. The suit accuses the companies of selling the collected data for profit, with the added concern that the Chinese Communist Party can access the information gathered by Hisense, which is based in China.
Under the order, Hisense is prohibited from collecting ACR data on Texans or from using, selling, sharing, disclosing, or transferring such information as the case moves forward in court.
“The days of Chinese tech companies spying on Americans’ televisions are over,” Paxton said. “This TRO is a major victory for privacy rights and the movement to stop Big Tech companies from secretly watching Texans. Let this be a notice to every other company wanting to steal Americans’ data illegally that there will be consequence for their unlawful and unethical activity.”
Hisense declined to comment, citing its policy against discussing pending legal matters.
The action represents Texas’ latest step in challenging smart TV manufacturers over consumer privacy issues.
