Anne Bucher  |  March 14, 2017

Category: Consumer News

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 TVs, with full web browsers, all-new content services and much moreSamsung Electronics America Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. are facing a class action lawsuit alleging Samsung Smart TVs secretly record consumers’ private conversations.

The Samsung class action lawsuit was filed just days after a WikiLeaks report that Smart TVs were allegedly being used to “spy” on consumers private conversations, even when the Smart TV was turned off.

Plaintiff Joshua Siegel filed the Samsung class action last week over Samsung’s “deceptive, misleading, and unconscionable practice of routinely and secretly intercepting and recording the private communications of consumers in their homes using hidden recording devices inside Smart TVs – and then using and transmitting those private conversations and information to third parties – in violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act … and various other statutes and laws.”

The Samsung Smart TV class action lawsuit also alleges Samsung failed to take reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized third parties from gaining access to consumers’ private conversations.

Smart TVs are home entertainment systems that are capable of responding to human voices and gestures, the Samsung class action lawsuit explains. However, consumers do not believe that the voice recognition feature involves voice recording or transmission, Siegel says.

According to the Samsung class action lawsuit, Siegel purchased several Samsung Smart TVs, which he kept in his bedroom and living areas within his home. He says he was unaware that the Samsung Smart TVs secretly recorded and transmitted his family’s private conversations and personal data to third parties. He was also unaware that the data could be hacked by third parties due to Samsung’s inadequate efforts to protect sensitive consumer data.

Siegel asserts that consumers would not have purchased the Samsung Smart TV, would have paid less for the televisions or would have purchased fewer products if not for Samsung’s “false, deceptive, and misleading course of conduct.”

“Moreover, the Federal Trade Commission (‘FTC’) has already deemed Defendants’ conduct alleged herein to be misleading and deceptive, and has argued that ‘Samsung users could not reasonably have anticipated that by using a voice-controlled SmartTV, their private conversations would be transmitted, sometimes encrypted, to a third party company,” Siegel says in the Samsung class action lawsuit.

By filing the Samsung class action lawsuit, Siegel seeks to represent himself and a Class of consumers in the United States who purchased or leased any Samsung Smart TV products since Jan. 9, 2012. He asserts claims for violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, negligence, common law fraud, breach of express warranty and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing.

Siegel seeks an order requiring Samsung to stop intercepting, recording and transmitting consumers’ private communications; disgorgement of wrongfully obtained profits; restitution; actual damages; punitive damages; attorneys’ fees and costs; pre- and post-judgment interest; and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.

Siegel is represented by Michael E. Berman of Berman Class Law.

The Samsung Smart TV Class Action Lawsuit is Joshua Siegel v. Samsung Electronics America Inc., et al., in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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45 thoughts onSamsung Class Action Lawsuit Says Smart TVs Spy on Consumers

  1. Joe says:

    I have 3 samsung smart tv’s. I want to get in on this.

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