Jonathan Stempel
May 11 (Reuters) – Netflix On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the streaming company, accusing it of collecting data from children and other consumers without consent and spying on them by designing its platform to be addictive.
Texas says Netflix has falsely represented to consumers for years that it did not collect or share user data, when in fact it tracked viewers’ habits and preferences and sold them to commercial data brokers and ad tech companies, making billions of dollars a year.
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The Los Gatos, California-based company has also been accused of quietly using a “dark mode” to keep users watching, including an autoplay feature that starts new shows when different ones end.
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Many companies, including social media and others with strong online presences, have been targeted by lawsuits accusing them of quietly tracking users and selling the resulting data to third parties, which use it for advertising.
The Texas complaint cites former Netflix CEO Reed Hastings saying in 2020 that “we don’t collect anything” as he sought to differentiate Netflix from Amazon, Facebook and Google on data collection.
“Netflix’s ultimate goal is as simple as it is profitable: to keep children and families glued to their screens, collect their data while they’re stuck there, and then monetize that data for substantial profits,” the Texas complaint, filed in state court in Collin County near Dallas, said.
“When you watch Netflix, Netflix is watching you,” the complaint adds.
Paxton said Netflix’s alleged surveillance practices violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
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He wants the company to purge illegally collected data, not use it for targeted advertising without user consent, and pay civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.
Paxton, a Republican, is running for U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Noyama)
