The Samsung TV lawsuit actually refers to two separate legal actions: a Texas Attorney General enforcement case that Samsung settled in February 2026, and a federal class action filed in New York in January 2026 that is still working its way through the courts. Both accuse Samsung of using a technology called Automated Content Recognition (ACR) to quietly collect detailed viewing data from millions of smart TV owners without meaningful consent, then sharing or selling that data to advertisers.
What Samsung’s TVs Are Accused of Doing
ACR is built into Samsung smart TVs running the Tizen operating system. It captures screenshots of whatever appears on the screen every 500 milliseconds, converts those images into digital fingerprints, and matches them against a database to identify the exact show, movie, channel, or ad being watched.
The tracking is not limited to Samsung’s own apps. A 2024 study by researchers at University College London found that ACR stays active when a Samsung TV is used as a display for something plugged in over HDMI, such as a laptop or a gaming console. ACR traffic was highest during traditional broadcast viewing and HDMI use, and largely absent when viewers streamed through third-party apps like Netflix or YouTube.1arXiv. Watching TV With the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs
Samsung markets ACR to advertisers as a tool for “insights, targeting, and measurement,” letting them identify which households saw a particular broadcast commercial and then serve follow-up ads on connected TV platforms.2IAB Canada. Samsung Ads ACR Guide The scale matters here. As of early 2025, roughly 67.8 million Samsung smart TVs were installed in U.S. homes, about 32 percent of all smart TVs in the country.3StreamTV Insider. Samsung Leads US CTV Market Increasingly Dominated by Smart TVs
The Texas Case and What Samsung Agreed To
On December 15, 2025, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Samsung and four other TV manufacturers, alleging violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.4Texas Attorney General. Attorney General Paxton Sues Five Major TV Companies The state’s petition described what it called “deceptive consent architecture.” During setup, ACR is labeled “Viewing Information Services,” language the state called “non-intuitive nomenclature.” Opting in took a single click; opting out later required navigating more than 15 clicks across multiple sub-menus.5MediaPost. Texas Sues Smart TV Companies Over Privacy
Texas also alleged Samsung used the viewing data to build profiles that inferred political leanings, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs, going well beyond what was needed to recommend content.6Texas Attorney General. Samsung TV Petition Filed
On February 26, 2026, Samsung reached an agreement with the Texas AG’s office.7Texas Attorney General. Attorney General Paxton Secures Major Agreement With Samsung Samsung agreed to stop collecting or processing ACR viewing data from Texas consumers without express consent, and to update its TVs with “clear and conspicuous” disclosure and consent screens.8Digital Policy Alert. Texas Attorney General Secures Agreement Requiring Samsung to Halt ACR Data Collection The lawsuit was then withdrawn. No financial penalty was publicly announced, and the changes apply to Texas consumers specifically.
The New York Class Action
On January 9, 2026, five consumers filed a class action against Samsung in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, captioned DiGiacinto v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (Case No. 1:26-cv-00196).9PACER Monitor. DiGiacinto et al v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc.
The complaint alleges Samsung violated the federal Video Privacy Protection Act along with privacy laws in California, New York, Vermont, and Maryland. It claims the ACR software records images and audio every 500 milliseconds and that the resulting data, identifying watched programs, third-party app content, and HDMI monitor activity, is shared and sold to advertisers including Google and X (formerly Twitter). Samsung’s privacy notice, the plaintiffs argue, is “misleading” because it describes “processing” viewing history without disclosing the actual scope of collection and sharing.10Top Class Actions. Samsung Class Action Alleges TVs Illegally Track Viewing Data to Sell for Profit
As of mid-2026, the case remains in its early stages. After a case management conference on May 12, 2026, the court ordered both sides to exchange information about Samsung’s setup screen flow, arbitration agreements, and the plaintiffs’ use of Samsung devices by June 11, 2026, with a further conference set for late June.9PACER Monitor. DiGiacinto et al v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc. Samsung has not yet formally responded to the merits.
What Samsung Says
Samsung has maintained throughout the proceedings that its TVs “do not spy on customers” and that its original privacy notices complied with Texas regulations. A company spokesperson said Samsung “shares the Texas Attorney General’s goal of promoting transparent and consumer-friendly privacy practices” and that users can change their privacy settings at any time.11The Record. Samsung Updates ACR Privacy Practices After Texas Settlement
On its community forums, Samsung describes ACR as “fully optional” and says it does not “record or watch any of the content displayed on your Smart TV,” characterizing the technology as generating unique content signatures rather than capturing actual footage.12Samsung Community. Samsung Smart TV Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) Feature The UCL researchers confirmed that once a user opts out, network traffic to ACR domains ceases entirely, though they also called the opt-out process “extremely complex” compared with the single click required to opt in.13UCL News. Smart TV Tracking Raises Privacy Concerns
How To Turn Off ACR on Your Samsung TV
You do not have to wait for a lawsuit to shut ACR off. The exact menu path varies by model year, but the following works on most Samsung smart TVs:
- Press Home on the remote, then go to Settings → Support → Terms & Privacy → Privacy Choices, and turn off “Viewing Information Services.”14Malwarebytes. Samsung TVs Stop Spying on Viewers in Texas — Heres How to Disable ACR Anywhere
- On some models the path is Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Terms & Privacy, then toggle off “Viewing Information Services.”15Consumer Reports. How to Turn Off Smart TV Snooping Features
- In the same Privacy Choices menu, you can also disable “Interest-Based Advertising” and turn off “Voice Recognition Services” to stop voice data from being transmitted.14Malwarebytes. Samsung TVs Stop Spying on Viewers in Texas — Heres How to Disable ACR Anywhere
- The Privacy Choices menu also contains a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” option identified by Consumer Reports during its testing.15Consumer Reports. How to Turn Off Smart TV Snooping Features
Can Samsung TV Owners Expect a Payout?
Not yet, and possibly not at all. The Texas settlement produced no publicly announced financial penalty for consumers; it required disclosure and consent changes for Texas buyers going forward. The New York class action is still in early discovery, and no class has been certified. Samsung has not yet responded to the merits.
The closest precedent is Vizio. In 2017, Vizio paid $2.2 million to settle FTC and New Jersey charges that it had tracked viewing habits without consent through a feature called “Smart Interactivity.”16Federal Trade Commission. What Vizio Was Doing Behind the TV Screen Two years later, Vizio settled a separate class action for $17 million over similar allegations and agreed to onscreen data-collection notices.5MediaPost. Texas Sues Smart TV Companies Over Privacy The Samsung Texas outcome tracks Vizio’s regulatory remedies without the money. Whether the New York case follows Vizio’s class-action arc is the question still to be answered. With roughly 68 million Samsung smart TVs in U.S. homes, any eventual class would be large.3StreamTV Insider. Samsung Leads US CTV Market Increasingly Dominated by Smart TVs
If you own a Samsung TV and want the outcome you already control, the fastest path is the Privacy Choices menu.