LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers has sued tech company Resideo, alleging “deceptive and unfair business practices” and that some of the video surveillance cameras the company sells risk leaving Nebraska consumers’ “intimate images and private locations vulnerable to exploitation and intrusion by foreign actors.”

The 33-page lawsuit was filed in Lancaster District Court on Monday, and it claims the company has “deceptively marketed” security products that have “major security vulnerabilities,” including “deceptive statements and material omissions when advertising and selling products manufactured” by Chinese equipment makers Hikvision and Zhejiang Dahua Technology.

The lawsuit alleges Resideo and its global distribution network, ADI, failed to disclose the vulnerabilities and national security risks associated with products made by the two Chinese companies. The lawsuit cited a British Broadcasting Corp. investigation that “showed that Hikvision engineers embedded backdoors which allowed unauthorized access to camera feeds.”

“When a company tells Nebraskans that their video cameras are private and secure, when in fact those cameras have known security flaws that tie back to the Chinese Communist Party, that is both a violation of state law and a national security risk,” Hilgers told Fox News.

Hikvision and other Chinese surveillance equipment are banned from being used by federal agencies. The Federal Communications Commission pushed to tighten its restrictions on Chinese electronics due to national security risks.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said earlier this year that “internet-connected cameras made in China are giving the Chinese government the ability to conduct espionage or disrupt US critical infrastructure.”

Resideo and Hikvision had no immediate comment.

According to the Attorney General’s office, the lawsuit seeks to stop Resideo and ADI from misleading consumers and address the serious privacy and security risks posed by the cameras sold in Nebraska, and seeks injunctive relief, civil penalties and other relief for violations of Nebraska’s Consumer Protection Act and Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Hilgers has sued other tech companies with ties to China, including Chinese e-commerce platform Temu and security camera manufacturer Lorex.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/nebraska-sues-resideo-alleging-serio...