Missouri’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Lorex, alleging that the seller of home cameras and baby monitors has concealed its ties to the Chinese military.
The lawsuit, filed on June 15, accuses Lorex of engaging in “deceptive marketing” of security cameras manufactured by China-based Zhejiang Dahua Technology, which is on a list of Chinese military companies the Pentagon compiled in 2022 to counter the Chinese regime’s military-civil fusion strategy.
According to the lawsuit, Lorex doesn’t mention its affiliation with Dahua, the latter’s relationship with the Chinese regime, or the resulting security vulnerabilities, such as allowing the Chinese military to gain access to Americans’ data.
Lorex’s failure to disclose its ties to Dahua amounted to “deceiving consumers about the privacy and security risks” that came with its cameras, and thus constituted “unlawful practices” under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, according to the lawsuit.
“Lorex’s statements are misleading because its cameras afford the Chinese government access to Missourians’ data and security footage,” the lawsuit states.
The office of Attorney General Catherine Hanaway described the lawsuit, which was filed in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County in Missouri, as a “monumental action to protect Missourians from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
“These cameras watch our babies breathe, capture our children’s voices, and record families’ most intimate moments,” Hanaway said in a June 15 statement. “When companies won’t tell the truth about their connection to hostile foreign governments, my office will step in to protect families.”
Lorex sells its products at Best Buy, Staples, Costco, Menards, Micro Center, and Office Depot and through online platforms such as the Lorex website and Amazon.
The lawsuit names two defendants—Lorex Corp., based in Delaware, and Lorex Technology, a Canadian company.
Citing results published by a Kentucky-based cybersecurity researcher in 2025, the lawsuit pointed out that a Lorex camera routed users to a login interface at a domain associated with Dahua, which “illustrates Dahua’s involvement and control over both the hardware and software of these [Lorex] devices.”
The lawsuit also referenced findings published by The Internet Protocol Video Market in 2019, alleging that Dahua cameras had the “potential to be used as eavesdropping devices—even when the audio on the camera is disabled.”
Some Lorex cameras sold through retailers and online stores, including the Lorex 2K Dual Lens Indoor model, are “nearly identical in appearance” to Dahua models, according to the lawsuit.
In 2021, the Federal Communications Commission designated Dahua as one of five Chinese companies posing a threat to U.S. national security.
In 2019, the Commerce Department added Dahua to a list of companies accused of supporting the CCP’s human rights abuses in China’s far-western region of Xinjiang.
According to the attorney general’s office, Hanaway is seeking restitution of up to $1,000 for each Missouri consumer who bought a Lorex camera over the past five years, damages of more than $1.8 million, and injunctive relief “barring continued illegal and false statements that misrepresent product security.”
“Parents place these cameras over cribs and in bedrooms to protect their children, not to invite a foreign adversary into their homes,” Hanaway said.
Lorex, which was previously owned by Dahua, has been sued on similar grounds by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The Epoch Times contacted Lorex for comment but didn’t receive a response by publication time.
The Lorex lawsuit was not Hanaway’s first effort to hold the CCP to account.
In March 2025, Missouri won a $24 billion lawsuit against the CCP for hoarding COVID-19 protective equipment. Later that year, Hanaway announced that her office had completed the legal procedure to enforce the judgment and would soon be able to start seizing China-owned assets.
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