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Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Thursday, December 18, 2025

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued five large TV manufacturers yesterday, alleging that their smart TVs spy on viewers without consent.

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Texas sues five smart TV makers for using ACR technology on their devices to screenshot what people are watching Lawsuits have been filed against Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense, and TCL www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/release ...

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-- Catalin Cimpanu (@campuscodi.risky.biz) Dec 16, 2025 at 9:00 AM

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More from the article ...

... "These companies have been unlawfully collecting personal data through Automated Content Recognition (ACR') technology," Paxton's office alleged in a press release that contains links to all five lawsuits.

"ACR in its simplest terms is an uninvited, invisible digital invader. This software can capture screenshots of a user's television display every 500 milliseconds, monitor viewing activity in real time, and transmit that information back to the company without the user's knowledge or consent.

The companies then sell that consumer information to target ads across platforms for a profit. This technology puts users' privacy and sensitive information, such as passwords, bank information, and other personal information at risk." ...

"Mass surveillance system" in US living rooms

Pointing out that Hisense and TCL are based in China, Paxton's press release said the firms' "Chinese ties pose serious concerns about consumer data harvesting and are exacerbated by China's National Security Law, which gives its government the capability to get its hands on US consumer data."

"Companies, especially those connected to the Chinese Communist Party, have no business illegally recording Americans' devices inside their own homes," Paxton said. "This conduct is invasive, deceptive, and unlawful.

The fundamental right to privacy will be protected in Texas because owning a television does not mean surrendering your personal information to Big Tech or foreign adversaries." ...



#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-12-17 03:14 PM | Reply

Why isn't that ------- ---- in prison?

#2 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2025-12-17 03:57 PM | Reply

A. Standing
B. Damages

Paxton is a ------- imbecile

#3 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2025-12-17 05:25 PM | Reply

Related ...

LG TV users baffled by unremovable Microsoft Copilot installation -- surprise forced update shows app pinned to the home screen
www.tomshardware.com

... LG smart TV owners are reporting that a recent webOS software update has added Microsoft Copilot to their TVs, with no apparent way to remove it.

Reports first surfaced over the weekend on Reddit, where a post showing a Copilot tile pinned to an LG TV home screen climbed to more than 35,000 upvotes on r/mildlyinfuriating, accompanied by hundreds of comments from users describing the same behavior.

According to affected users, Copilot appears automatically after installing the latest webOS update on certain LG TV models. The feature shows up on the home screen alongside streaming apps, but unlike Netflix or YouTube, it cannot be uninstalled. ...



#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-12-18 03:41 PM | Reply

Update ...

LG forced a Copilot web app onto its TVs
www.theverge.com

... LG says it will let users delete the Microsoft Copilot shortcut it installed on newer TVs after several reports highlighted the unremovable icon. In a statement to The Verge, LG spokesperson Chris De Maria says the company "respects consumer choice and will take steps to allow users to delete the shortcut icon if they wish."

Last week, a user on the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit posted an image of the Microsoft Copilot icon in their lineup of apps on an LG TV, with no option to delete it. "My LG TV's new software update installed Microsoft Copilot, which cannot be deleted," the post says. The post garnered more than 36,000 upvotes as people grow more frustrated with AI popping up just about everywhere. ...


#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-12-18 03:43 PM | Reply

Broken clock...

#6 | Posted by hamburglar at 2025-12-18 06:11 PM | Reply

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