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== ACR user data collection ==
== ACR user data collection ==
Samsung, along with a number of other smart TV manufacturers, were sued by Texas Attorney General in December 2025 for failing to disclose the data collection capabilities of [[wikipedia:Automatic_content_recognition|ACR (Automatic Content Recognition)]] in their products.<ref name="petition-samsung">{{Cite web |date=December 15, 2025 |title=State of Texas v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc., Original Petition |url=https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/press/Samsung%20TV%20Petition%20Filed.pdf |access-date=January 21, 2026 |publisher=Office of the Texas Attorney General |format=PDF}}</ref> Under the lawsuits, it is alleged that Samsung utilized ACR technology to determine what the the viewer is watching and sell the data to advertisers without consent. Anecdotal evidence lends credence to these claims in the form of abnormal amounts of telemetry data being uploaded to Samsung's servers by their smart TVs.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/samsung/comments/1kpulqw/samsung_smart_tvs_privacy_nightmare_massive/</ref>  
Samsung, along with a number of other smart TV manufacturers, were sued by Texas Attorney General in December 2025 for failing to disclose the data collection capabilities of [[wikipedia:Automatic_content_recognition|ACR (Automatic Content Recognition)]] in their products.<ref name="petition-samsung">{{Cite web |date=December 15, 2025 |title=State of Texas v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc., Original Petition |url=https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/press/Samsung%20TV%20Petition%20Filed.pdf |access-date=January 21, 2026 |publisher=Office of the Texas Attorney General |format=PDF |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260206163119/https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/press/Samsung%20TV%20Petition%20Filed.pdf |archive-date=6 Feb 2026}}</ref> Under the lawsuits, it is alleged that Samsung utilized ACR technology to determine what the the viewer is watching and sell the data to advertisers without consent. Anecdotal evidence lends credence to these claims in the form of abnormal amounts of telemetry data being uploaded to Samsung's servers by their smart TVs.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/samsung/comments/1kpulqw/samsung_smart_tvs_privacy_nightmare_massive/</ref>  


More information about the lawsuits can be read [[Texas Attorney General sues multiple TV makers over ACR user data collection|here]].
More information about the lawsuits can be read [[Texas Attorney General sues multiple TV makers over ACR user data collection|here]].


== Voice recordings of private conversations ==
== Voice recordings of private conversations ==
In February 2015, CNet first reported that the privacy policy of Samsung smart TVs reveals that they can record private conversations and send them to the manufacturer or its party contractors for voice recognition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Matyszczyk |first=Chris |date=2015-02-08 |title=Samsung's warning: Our Smart TVs record your living room chatter |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/samsungs-warning-our-smart-tvs-record-your-living-room-chatter/ |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=CNET}}</ref>
In February 2015, CNet first reported that the privacy policy of Samsung smart TVs reveals that they can record private conversations and send them to the manufacturer or its party contractors for voice recognition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Matyszczyk |first=Chris |date=2015-02-08 |title=Samsung's warning: Our Smart TVs record your living room chatter |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/samsungs-warning-our-smart-tvs-record-your-living-room-chatter/ |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=CNET |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260215131307/https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/samsungs-warning-our-smart-tvs-record-your-living-room-chatter/ |archive-date=15 Feb 2026}}</ref>


At the time, this was a novel concept as smart speakers like Amazon Echo were just coming out, and the backlash prompted Samsung to release a statement that transmission of voice recordings was specifically limited to instances when the voice recognition feature is used and updated its privacy policy to be more specific in this regard. However, Samsung did not explicitly deny the fact that this could lead to private conversations being transmitted to Samsung or their partner Nuance, Inc.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-02-10 |title=Samsung Smart TVs Do Not Monitor Living Room Conversations |url=https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-smart-tvs-do-not-monitor-living-room-conversations |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=Samsung Newsroom}}</ref>
At the time, this was a novel concept as smart speakers like Amazon Echo were just coming out, and the backlash prompted Samsung to release a statement that transmission of voice recordings was specifically limited to instances when the voice recognition feature is used and updated its privacy policy to be more specific in this regard. However, Samsung did not explicitly deny the fact that this could lead to private conversations being transmitted to Samsung or their partner Nuance, Inc.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-02-10 |title=Samsung Smart TVs Do Not Monitor Living Room Conversations |url=https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-smart-tvs-do-not-monitor-living-room-conversations |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=Samsung Newsroom}}</ref>