State AGs May Extend Their Reach To Nat'l Security Concerns

This article was originally published byLaw360and is availablehereand as a PDFhere.

On Oct. 29, the Texas Attorney General announced that he had opened an investigation into the domestic home security camera manufacturer Lorex Corp. for potentially violating state data privacy law.

The alleged violation stemmed from Lorex's use of components supplied by a Chinese company, Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co., that is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, and the video surveillance and telecommunications equipment of which is restricted in the U.S. by the Federal Communications Commission.

If ultimately successful, the state's legal theory would restrict companies' abilities to build and sell communications technologies in Texas far more than the FCC regime that inspired the investigation.