State TROs Against Smart‑TV ACR

Texas obtained a temporary restraining order blocking Samsung from collecting, using, selling or sharing Automated Content Recognition (ACR) screenshots captured from smart TVs, alleging users were surveilled every 500 ms without consent. The order follows similar actions against other TV makers and could crystallize a precedent that lets states curtail embedded, always‑on media telemetry on privacy grounds. — If states can locally bar ACR collection tied to residents, we may see a patchwork of privacy rules that force industry design changes, fracture national device markets, and accelerate federal or multistate standardization fights over ambient device surveillance.