LG, Samsung, Sony Class Action Alleges Smart TV Privacy Violations

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A class action lawsuit filed against LG Electronics Inc., Samsung Electronics America Inc., Sony Corp., and others alleges that these companies illegally collect information from their customers’ smart TVs.

The complaint states that the smart TVs from these electronics manufacturers contain “automatic tracking software” (ATS) that “collect personally identifying information about consumers – including information that identifies a person as having obtained or requested specific video materials or services.”

In addition, the LG, Samsung, and Sony smart TV class action asserts that these companies then sell consumers’ viewing data to third parties. Those third parties can then target the consumers with specific advertising. The complaint contends that the electronics manufacturers hid these ATS programs from their customers, and took consumers’ personal identifying information without their permission.

According to the class action, “for the vast majority of consumers who are unaware of the need to take steps to ensure their privacy, Defendants do nothing to alert them, preferring to keep their invasive monitoring and tracking practices -their ‘backdoor billion dollar business’ – a secret from its customers.”

Plaintiff Thomas Roger White Jr. states that he purchased two Samsung, one Sony, and one LG smart TVs. White claims that he was completely unaware that these televisions collected his personal information and sold it to others. Plaintiffs David Espinoza and Christopher Mills similarly allege that they own smart TVs from the defendant manufacturers, and did not know about the ATS and that their viewing data was tracked and sold.

This is not the only class action against smart TV manufacturers. Earlier this month, a class action was filed against Samsung for its use of smart TV software. In that action, the plaintiff claims that Samsung had a “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.” That lawsuit alleges claims for breach of consumer protection laws, negligence, fraud, breach of express warranty, and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing.

Here, the LG, Samsung, and Sony smart TV class action lawsuit asserts that the hidden and unauthorized data collection violated New Jersey consumer protection laws, the federal Video Privacy Act, the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, among other claims. Under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, plaintiffs are entitled to statutory damages of $100 per day of violation, to a maximum of $10,000 each.

The smart TV class action requests certification of a Class of all persons in the U.S. who purchased or leased an LG, Sony, or Samsung smart TV since Jan. 1, 2012. The class action seeks damages, including punitive and statutory damages, as well as an injunction stopping the defendants from tracking viewer data without customers’ permission.

White, Espinoza, and Mills are represented by Michael E. Berman of Berman Class Law.

The LG, Samsung, and Sony Smart TV Privacy Violation Class Action Lawsuit is Thomas Roger White Jr., et al. v. LG Electronics Inc., et al., Case No. 2:17-cv-01775, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.