Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday filed a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix, accusing the company of illegally collecting and monetizing personal data from users, including children, in what he described as a “behavioral-surveillance program of staggering scale.”
The lawsuit, filed in Collin County state court near Dallas, alleges Netflix misled consumers for years by portraying itself as a privacy-conscious, ad-free alternative to major technology platforms while secretly tracking detailed behavioral information about users and sharing it with data brokers and advertising technology companies.
“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,” Paxton said in a press release.
He accused the company of misleading users while “exploiting their private data to make billions.”
According to the complaint, Netflix logs billions of user interactions on its platform, collecting data that allegedly includes viewing habits, entertainment preferences, devices used, household networks, app usage patterns, and other behavioral information.
Texas argued that every click, pause, and viewing choice became part of a profile used to target users and generate revenue.
The state alleges Netflix then shared or disclosed portions of that information to commercial data brokers and advertising technology firms, allowing the data to be combined with information collected elsewhere online to create detailed consumer profiles.
The complaint claims the practice amounts to an unlawful invasion of privacy and violates Texas consumer protection laws.
Paxton’s lawsuit also focuses heavily on children, accusing Netflix of presenting itself as a “kid-friendly” platform while collecting information on younger users and designating features that encourage compulsive viewing.
The complaint points to autoplay functions and recommendation algorithms, arguing that they are intentionally engineered to maximize screen time and harvest additional user data.
“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 complaint said. “Simply put, this is deceptive conduct that violates Texas law.”
Texas is seeking court orders to stop the alleged practices and require changes to Netflix’s platform, particularly for children’s accounts.
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The complaint cites remarks from former Netflix cofounder and CEO Reed Hastings, who said in 2020 that Netflix did not engage in the same kind of data collection as other tech companies.
The lawsuit marks the latest privacy-focused legal action by Paxton, who in recent months has pursued cases against television manufacturers over alleged viewing surveillance and repeatedly targeted technology companies over consumer data practices.