LG Electronics’ US subsidiary has agreed to settle a privacy lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general’s office over allegations that its smart TVs collected users’ viewing data without proper consent.

The settlement with LG Electronics USA Inc. requires the company to obtain users’ consent before collecting viewing data through automated content recognition technology. LG must also add a pop-up disclosure on its smart TVs that explains how such data may be collected and used and gives users a clear option to opt out.

The agreement also prohibits LG from transferring viewing data to the Chinese Communist Party. LG admitted no liability or wrongdoing under the settlement.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the settlement was intended to protect consumers from unlawful surveillance inside their homes.

“LG has now taken important steps to ensure that users’ viewing data will not be collected without their informed consent and that consumers maintain their fundamental right to privacy in their own homes,” Paxton said in a statement.

“No electronics company should be collecting consumers’ data and exposing Texans to potential surveillance by the Chinese government. I am pleased to see that after my office took action, smart TV companies are doing what is necessary to protect Texans. I will continue to work to aggressively hold other smart TV companies accountable for unlawfully using ACR technology to put consumers at risk.”

LG Electronics USA said it places a high priority on protecting consumer privacy, adding that it had worked with the state to strengthen what it described as its existing practice of requiring consumer consent before collecting smart TV data.

The Texas attorney general sued LG and four other major TV makers last year, accusing them of secretly tracking Texans’ viewing habits through smart TVs.

Samsung Electronics America reached a similar settlement with Paxton in February. Cases against Sony, TCL and Hisense, the three remaining companies named in the lawsuit, are still pending.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)