Texas sued Netflix on Monday for allegedly tracking, collecting and profiting from data produced by children and other customers without their knowledge.
Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the streaming giant under Texas laws against deceptive business practices, alleging that Netflix billed itself as a “safe respite” from the surveillance and advertising that characterize other big tech platforms while engaging in similar data harvesting practices. The suit also claims that Netflix deceptively designs its platform to be addictive via features like autoplay, and references separate litigation in which juries found that Facebook and other social media platforms are similarly addictive by design.
Paxton’s complaint includes statements by former chief executive Reed Hastings that committed to refrain from mining user data for advertising and other business purposes, while contrasting the company with other big tech businesses such as Facebook and Amazon.
“For years, Netflix’s leadership told the world it had ‘zero interest’ in advertising…and styled itself as the anti–Big Ad Tech refuge,” according to the complaint. “But once Netflix had stockpiled user data under those promises, it flipped the script and built an ads business that mirrors everything it once attacked.”
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The complaint alleges that Netflix falsely represents that paid subscriptions shield users from data-driven ads. It adds that the company tracks and logs viewing habits, location and virtually every interaction on the platform — keyword searches, pausing or fast-forwarding and more — which it then uses to build consumer profiles that earn the company billions.
Big Tech platforms like Meta’s Facebook and Google-owned YouTube have been found liable in lawsuits brought using state laws that bar businesses from misleading the public, knowingly endangering children or negligently designing addictive products. Paxton’s case was brought under Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The suit asks the court to bar Netflix from continuing the allegedly illegal practices, including turning off the autoplay feature on kids’ profiles, and orders to purge Texans’ data, among other relief.