Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Netflix claiming it spies on Texans, including children, and collects users’ data without their knowledge or consent.
Though Netflix represented to consumers that it did not collect or share extensive user data for years, in reality the company is a logging company that records and monetizes billions of behavioral events, while occasionally streaming movies, according to the Office of the Attorney General.
“Netflix uses intentional engineering to track and log users’ viewing habits, preferences, devices, household networks, application usage, and other sensitive behavioral data,” the release from the AG’s office states. “Every interaction on the platform became a data point revealing information about the user. This tracking applied to not only adults’ accounts, but also kids’ profiles.”
The lawsuit asserts Netflix then disclosed the information to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies, where it was combined with data collected from other platforms to build detailed consumer profiles.
“Netflix users’ data is essentially shopped across Big Ad Tech’s shadowy network,” the release states. “The company earns billions of dollars every year from secretly selling consumer data.”
The company also designed its platform to be addictive by using features that are designed to manipulate users to take actions Netflix wants them to take, the AGO alleges. For example, the autoplay function creates a continuous stream of content intended to keep users, including children, watching for extended periods of time.
“Netflix has built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans’ personal data without their consent, and my office will do everything in our power to stop it,” said Paxton. “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.
“I will continue to work to protect Texas families from deceptive practices by Big Tech companies and ensure that corporations are held accountable under Texas law.”
Paxton is seeking to hold Netflix accountable under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The lawsuit seeks to stop the unlawful collection and disclosure of user data, require Netflix to disable autoplay by default on kid’s profiles, and secure other injunctive relief and civil penalties.
The AG’s office also announced that it secured a settlement with LG Electronics over unlawful privacy violations involving smart television technology. Under the agreement, LG will no longer use Automated Content Recognition (ACR) technology to collect consumers’ viewing data without their informed consent.
