United States of America: District Court granted temporary restraining order prohibiting Hisense from collecting data through automatic content recognition technology

On 17 December 2025, the District Court of Comal County, Texas granted the Texas Attorney General’s request for a temporary restraining order against Hisense USA Corporation. The interim ruling followed the filing, on 15 December 2025, of Texas’s original petition and application for temporary and permanent injunctions. The lawsuit concerns the default activation of Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology in Hisense Smart TVs to collect viewing data across applications, broadcast content, connected devices, and devices sharing the same IP address. The petition alleges misleading disclosures and the absence of informed consumer consent. The Texas Attorney General alleges violations of Section 17.46 of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and proceeds under Section 17.47 of the same Act. The petition seeks injunctive relief and monetary relief, including civil penalties, attorneys’ fees, litigation expenses, and costs, and states that the State claims entitlement to monetary relief in an amount greater than USD 1 million.