NEW YORK – One of the hottest items this holiday season are so-called, “smart-TVs,” but government officials are warning the public that the televisions are likely to be watching consumers.

“Popular holiday gifts can invite unpopular guest into your home without your knowledge. It's nothing less than a violation of privacy of New Yorkers and it’s got to stop now,” United States Senator Chuck Schumer said Thursday.

“Last month the FBI confirmed our fear by stating that smart-TVs present a number of security threats to upstate New Yorkers and Americans,” said Schumer.

Schumer said the National Institute of Standards and Technologies had recently released guidelines for the industry to improve security after concerns were expressed. A recent consumer report also noted the issue and indicated there are millions of vulnerable smart-TVs that contain easily exploitable security flaw

“These TVs are hooked up to the internet and their manufacturers and software application developers can sometimes collect personal and private information on users. Not just the industry but malicious actors can too, because there have been many instances of hackers breaking into smart-TVs and doing all kinds of bad things,” said the senator.

The smart-TVs often come with cameras and microphones that record users in their home. Information can be collected and used sometimes without user's knowledge by developers and other associated software companies, said Schumer.

“They can record your conversations in day-to-day life. You're sitting on the couch with your spouse, or kid, with a friend, and you're saying things you don't want other people to hear, and they (hackers and the tech companies) can pick them up. So this is a bad thing and it has actually happened.”

Once a hacker has access to one device on a network, such as a smart-TV, they can gain access to all the devices on the network. The more connected devices you own, the greater the risk.

According to Schumer hackers can turn on or off other smart-appliances, turn on other camera and microphones in the home, they can change channels, volumes and even stream offensive or illegal content onto TV screens.

This happened on a wide scale in 2013 when hackers broke into 70,000 homes, 4,000 of them in the U.S., using device default passwords.

The hackers streamed the live footage from the cameras onto a website allowing anyone in the world to view or download the video streams.

“Thank God that website has been taken down,” said Schumer.

He said many of the hacked cameras were on smart-TVs, highlighting their vulnerability.

Schumer said he was urging the Federal Trade Commission to take a look at how the companies were protecting consumers data and then develop guidelines to help create more secure products for the industry.

He also said he was working with a number of other congressional leaders to better understand the issue, so law-makers could take action in the near future.

“The consumer investigation combined with the FBI's recent warning signified a lot more work needed to be done,” said the senator.

“He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, that's okay when it comes to Santa Claus, it's not okay for the family TV.”