Samsung could be investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US following a complaint which claims its smart TVs record private conversations without informing users.

US consumer rights organisation the Electronic Privacy Information Center (Epic) accuses Samsung of breaking federal privacy laws including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which both concern the collection and disclosure of electronic communications.

“Samsung routinely intercepts and records the private communications of consumers in their homes. Consumers who have learned of this practice have described it is as both “unfair” and “deceptive”,” said Epic in the complain.

“Samsung’s attempts to disclaim its intrusive surveillance activities by means of a “privacy notice” do not diminish the harm to American consumers. It is incumbent upon the Federal Trade Commission to take action in this matter, and to enjoin Samsung and other companies that engage in similar practices, from such unlawful activities.”

A Samsung spokesperson denied Epic’s claims: “The claims made by Epic are not correct and do not reflect the actual features of our Smart TV. Samsung takes consumer privacy very seriously and our products are designed with privacy in mind.”

The debate rages around the collection of personal data including speech by voice recognition systems and how they operate. It was instigated by an “Orwellian” change to Samsung’s privacy policy regarding its smart TVs and where the data recorded by them is sent, in this case to a third-party.

Samsung uses voice recognition specialist Nuance Communications to process speech and return text results.

“When the voice recognition feature is enabled, everything a user says in front of the Samsung SmartTV is recorded and transmitted over the internet to a third party, regardless of whether it is related to the provision of the service,” Epic states in its complaint.

Samsung clarified its privacy policy, but some of its smart TVs were found to transmit both voice data and the recognised text unencrypted across the internet, despite the company stating that all private data is encrypted when passed between the TV to the voice recognition servers.

Epic is hoping that the FTC investigates not only Samsung’s practices, but those using similar systems to ensure that they comply with privacy laws. But the case demonstrates the complexity of the technology entering the home and the lack of consumer understanding of what it is doing and how it works.

The FTC has not confirmed whether or not it will conduct an investigation. But it highlights issues around privacy which are likely to become more common in the near future. The internet of things promises to become a reality in the next five years, making everything that was once “dumb” and unconnected to the internet intelligent and able to collect and use private data.