Samsung faces class action over privacy concerns with smart TVs

The proposed class of Samsung Smart TV purchasers says the company captures and monetizes viewing data in real time without user permission.SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — Customers who purchased Samsung Smart TVs sued over claims the technology company collects users’ real-time viewing habits without their permission for commercial purposes.Named plaintiffs Danielle Tillery, Michael Walsh and David Rosenberg, who each bought a Samsung Smart TV between 2014 and 2021, accuse Samsung of violating their data privacy by harvesting real-time audio and visual data of what is shown on the TV for use in its advertising business.The plaintiffs say Samsung uses automated content recognition technology to capture a screen about twice every second, reducing it to a unique digital “fingerprint” and then aggregating the identifiable viewing activity — including data from antenna and cable sources, HDMI inputs and streaming services — into monetizable consumer profiles.“This case is about that surveillance: the automatic content recognition technology Samsung uses to conduct it, the false assurances and manipulative design Samsung deploys to manufacture ‘consent’ to it, and the state and federal laws Samsung violates by doing so — despite years of public warnings about Smart TV ACR surveillance that Samsung has disregarded,” the plaintiffs say in their 88-page class action, filed in Northern California federal court Tuesday.Samsung has used automated content recognition technology in its Smart TVs since at least 2013, according to the plaintiffs — first through outside vendors, and then building its own system that operates in connection with Samsung Ads, the company’s electronic advertising entity.They argue the company deceives consumers about its technology, labeling it as “Viewing Information Services” on device menus and describing it as “personalized recommendations” that will improve a user’s experience.However, the plaintiffs say Samsung does not disclose that the feature continuously captures and analyzes what is on a user’s TV screen, nor does it divulge that the viewing data is sent to third parties or used to build cross-device profiles for targeted advertising.“Reasonable consumers, including plaintiffs, would not expect that simply watching television in their homes would result in the continuous interception, analysis, and disclosure of their viewing activity and associated identifiers to third parties,” the plaintiffs say.The plaintiffs claim they never knowingly consented to have Samsung or any third party collect or use their viewing activity and they never would have bought a Samsung Smart TV, or paid the price they did, if they knew about the company’s data collection habits.They bring 14 claims, including invasion of privacy, negligence and unjust enrichment, along with violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, the Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Video Privacy Protection Act and the Consumers Legal Remedies Act.The plaintiffs are asking the court for an injunction prohibiting Samsung from operating automated content recognition technology that collects viewing activity without clear and separately disclosed user consent, as well as damages.“According to our complaint, roughly twice a second, these TVs capture what is on the screen: the shows, the games, the home videos, whatever is connected,” said the consumers’ attorneys, Sonjay Singh of Siri Glimstad and Andrew Ready Tate, of Privacy Rights Law. “The result is a detailed profile of how families live, harvested without their informed consent. Americans should be secure in the privacy of their own homes. Through this case, we hope to protect that right.”Representatives for Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.This is not the first time Samsung has faced claims that its Smart TVs violate users’ data privacy. Last year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Samsung and other smart TV manufacturers over claims their devices use automated content recognition to capture real-time audio and visual data of what is shown on the TV to track the content users are watching for targeted advertising.“Sony’s Smart TVs are watching you back,” Paxton said in one of the complaints. “Sony Smart TVs aren’t just entertainment devices — they’re a mass surveillance system sitting in millions of American living rooms. What consumers were told would enhance their viewing experience actually tracks, analyzes, and sells intimate details about everything they watch.”Samsung reached an agreement with the state in February, agreeing to stop gathering or processing automated content recognition data without the “express consent” of Texas consumers, according to Paxton. The agreement also required Samsung to make “clear and conspicuous” disclosures about how users’ data is collected and used.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads