Texas accuses Netflix of ‘spying’ on children and designing ‘addictive’ features in new suit

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a sweeping lawsuit Monday against Netflix, accusing the Hollywood streaming giant of “spying on” people in his state, including children, and collecting user data without consent.

“Netflix is not the ad-free and kid-friendly platform it claims to be. Instead, it has misled consumers while exploiting their private data to make billions,” Paxton said in a statement accompanying the suit, which was filed in state court in Collin County.

In a statement, a Netflix spokesperson said the lawsuit “lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information.”

“Netflix takes our members’ privacy seriously and complies with privacy and data‑protection laws everywhere we operate,” the spokesperson said. “We look forward to addressing the Texas Attorney General’s allegations in court and further explaining our industry-leading, kid‑friendly parental controls and transparent privacy practices.”

Paxton’s lawsuit alleged that Netflix built “surveillance machinery” that tracks and logs users’ viewing habits, preferences, devices, household networks, application usage and “other sensitive behavioral data” via adult and kid profiles alike.

Netflix may have once portrayed itself as a “kid-friendly and ad-free Big Tech alternative,” the suit said. “But behind the scenes,” the filing goes on to say, “Netflix quietly built a behavioral-surveillance program of staggering scale.”

The streaming service, which says it has more than 325 million subscribers worldwide, offers both ad-supported and ad-free subscription packages in the U.S. It rolled out an ad-supported tier in late 2022.

“Netflix’s years-long bait-and-switch has led the company right to where it promised never to be: addicting children and families to its platform, mining those users for data, and then converting that data into lucrative intelligence for global advertising juggernauts,” the suit said.

Netflix also “deceptively designs its platform to be addictive,” the 59-page filing said, highlighting “subtle features engineered to manipulate users to take the actions Netflix wants them to take,” such as the application’s autoplay function.

Disney+, HBO Max, and other leading entertainment streaming services have autoplay functions, too.

Paxton’s lawsuit comes as various technology platforms, most notably Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, face growing legal scrutiny over data-mining practices as well as features that critics deem addictive or unsafe.

In late March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google’s YouTube negligent in the design or operation of their social media platforms. Meta and Google spokespeople said the companies disagreed with the verdict and planned to appeal.

Paxton last month launched an investigation of major music streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music, over what he called “alleged payola schemes in which they accept bribes to artificially promote certain songs, artists, or content.”

Spotify and Apple Music did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

Netflix stands accused of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), a consumer protection measure first signed into law in the early 1970s. Paxton is seeking a jury trial, a permanent injunction to stop the data collection, and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation of DTPA.

Paxton is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Texas, challenging incumbent GOP lawmaker John Cornyn.

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