Samsung records what smart TV viewers watch, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Danielle Tillery, Michael Walsh and David Rosenberg filed a class action lawsuit against Samsung Electronics America Inc. on Oct. 6, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The plaintiffs allege Samsung smart TVs record what appears on screen and share that viewing data with advertising partners without consumers' consent.

How does the alleged tracking work?

The complaint claims Samsung smart TVs contain automatic content recognition, a technology that identifies what plays on a TV. The lawsuit alleges Samsung's ACR system captures the screen about every 500 milliseconds whether the picture comes from an antenna, cable, a streaming app or an HDMI device. Each capture becomes a digital fingerprint that travels to Samsung-controlled servers with household, device and home network identifiers.

Setup screens and opt-out settings

During setup, Samsung reportedly tells consumers it does not collect video footage or other content shown on the TV. The complaint says that statement is false and that the feature's name, Viewing Information Services, gives no hint of screen monitoring. One setup screen allegedly bundles several privacy notices behind a single "I agree to all" button while turning the tracking off takes 15 or more clicks across at least two menus.

Samsung allegedly links the viewing data to household and device identifiers to build profiles that target ads across TVs, phones and computers. Citing a December 2023 Samsung Ads announcement, the plaintiffs say the company planned to match its data with Experian identity records covering about 128 million households.

The lawsuit contends that the plaintiffs did not agree to data collection and that each would not have bought the TV, or would have paid substantially less, had Samsung disclosed it at the point of sale.

What happened in Texas

Texas sued Samsung in December 2025 over its ACR consent process. In February 2026, the company accepted a permanent injunction requiring a clear ACR disclosure and consumers' affirmative express consent before it collects viewing data. Samsung has not extended equivalent protections to California consumers, the lawsuit contends.

The legal claims

The lawsuit brings multiple counts, including:


  • Federal Wiretap Act, which bars intercepting electronic communications

  • Video Privacy Protection Act, which limits disclosure of a person's viewing history

  • California Invasion of Privacy Act, which bans the secret recording, wiretapping or intercepting of confidential communications without consent 

  • California Consumers Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law, which target deceptive business practices

Other counts cover invasion of privacy, unauthorized computer data access, negligence and unjust enrichment. The plaintiffs seek money for consumers and a public injunction barring Samsung from running ACR on California consumers’ TVs without clear, separate consent.

What the lawsuit means for Samsung smart TV users

Two proposed nationwide classes cover people in the United States who used a Samsung smart TV with ACR enabled that captured, analyzed or transmitted information about on-screen content since Jan. 1, 2013, or whose viewing data Samsung combined with individual or household identity data in that period with matching subclasses for California residents.

As of this writing, there is no settlement, no claims process and no money available.