Lorex Home Security Cameras Made With Tech From Banned Chinese Company, Class Action Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims that Lorex residential security cameras, unbeknownst to consumers, are manufactured with hardware, firmware and backend systems supplied by a “Chinese military company” whose products have been banned in the United States since 2021.

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The 63-page privacy lawsuit contends that consumers have been deceived by promotions of Lorex security cameras as “private and secure” when the manufacturer has an established relationship with Zhejiang Dahua Technology Corporation, whose products, the complaint highlights, have been restricted for use in the U.S. by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Lorex’s apparent misrepresentations create for consumers “the false impression of private and secure household surveillance, even though the cameras expose consumers’ most intimate spaces to potential foreign access,” the suit alleges.

Specifically, the case continues, Dahua was added to the FCC’s list of equipment and services that pose an “unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States,” and the company’s inclusion constituted a ban on its products for marketing and sale nationwide in 2021.

However, the class action lawsuit argues that the connection between Dahua and Lorex is undeniable.

“Lorex marketed its products as ‘private by design,’ yet failed to disclose Dahua’s ongoing involvement and the resulting surveillance and exploitation risks, and provided deceptive assurances of security,” the suit charges.

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In fact, the complaint mentions that Dahua previously owned Lorex and manufactured its security cameras, but, on the day before the FCC announced it would ban Dahua in the United States, it sold Lorex to Skywatch, a Taiwanese company.

With this past ownership in mind, the lawsuit asserts that similarities between comparable models of Lorex and Dahua security cameras are striking, and that they are “nearly identical” in appearance and functionality. Furthermore, independent researchers discovered through firmware analysis on a Lorex camera a pathway to a login prompt connected to Dahua, demonstrating further instances of Dahua’s involvement with Lorex devices, the case adds.

“Dahua provides the technological framework through which Lorex’s devices operate, including storage servers, software integrations, and data management systems that transmit, process, and store user information,” the case alleges.

Through its reliance on product components made by other companies, Lorex is engaging in a process known as original equipment manufacturing, or white-labeling Dahua, whereby Lorex acts as the mere assembler of pieces for the final product, the lawsuit contends.  

The primary concern of this arrangement, the suit relays, is the lack of information available to consumers upon purchase.

Lorex security cameras are available for sale at a number of major retailers in the United States, which reportedly promote the products as safe for use, even in sensitive areas of a home, like bedrooms and children’s nurseries. Notably, some Lorex product pages for these retailers, including Costco, contain a disclaimer that Lorex security cameras are designed for customer and business use, not for the U.S. federal government or any contractors subject to the National Defense Authorization Act, the case notes.

“By including this disclaimer, Lorex and/or Costco demonstrate actual knowledge of security issues, yet fail to explain the significance or implications of the disclaimer to consumers,” the complaint says.

The Lorex class action lawsuit seeks to represent all consumers in the United States who purchased a Lorex camera product for personal or household use, not for resale, during the applicable statute of limitations period.

Learn all about the legal process: What is a class action lawsuit?