Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Netflix, accusing the streaming giant of illegally collecting and monetizing personal data from Texans, including children, without their knowledge or consent.
The lawsuit alleges that Netflix has long presented itself to consumers as a platform that does not collect or share extensive user data. But Paxton’s office claims the company has operated less like a traditional streaming service and more like a data-logging enterprise, recording billions of behavioral events tied to how users interact with the platform.
According to the complaint, Netflix intentionally engineered its service to track and log users’ viewing habits, preferences, devices, household networks, application activity, and other sensitive behavioral information. Every click, selection, pause, search, and viewing choice, the lawsuit alleges, became part of a broader data profile. That tracking allegedly extended not only to adult accounts, but also to children’s profiles.
Paxton’s office further alleges that Netflix disclosed user data to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies, allowing the information to be combined with data from other platforms to create detailed consumer profiles. The lawsuit characterizes Netflix user data as part of a larger advertising technology ecosystem, where personal information can be packaged, analyzed, and monetized across what Paxton’s office describes as Big Ad Tech’s hidden network.
The complaint also takes aim at Netflix’s product design, arguing that the company built features intended to keep users, including children, engaged for long periods. Paxton’s office specifically cites autoplay, which automatically begins another episode or piece of content after one ends, as a tool designed to create a continuous viewing experience and encourage extended use.
“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 Attorney General 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 bringing the case under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which prohibits false, misleading, and deceptive business practices. The lawsuit seeks to halt Netflix’s alleged unlawful collection and disclosure of user data, require the company to disable autoplay by default on children’s profiles, and impose civil penalties and other court-ordered relief.
The case adds Netflix to the growing list of major technology and media companies facing scrutiny over how they collect, use, and profit from consumer data, particularly when children are involved.
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