Texas accuses Netflix of spying on children in new lawsuit

"Texas sued Netflix on Monday, accusing the streaming company of spying on children and designing its platform to be addictive. Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, said Netflix has for years falsely represented to consumers that it did not collect or share user data, when it actually tracked and sold viewers' habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies, making billions of dollars a year."

"The Los Gatos, California-based company was also accused of quietly using dark patterns to keep users watching, including an autoplay feature that starts a new show when a different show ends. Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Texas's complaint follows a spate of lawsuits targeting tech companies over features that the plaintiffs have said are addictive and dangerous to children."

"Paxton said Netflix marketed itself as a safe haven from data-hungry social networks when, in fact, it was engaged in similar information harvesting. 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."

"Texas's complaint quoted Reed Hastings, the former Netflix chief executive, as saying in 2020 we don't collect anything, as he sought to distinguish Netflix from Amazon, Facebook and Google with regard to data collection. Netflix's endgame is simple and lucrative: get children and families glued to the screen, harvest their data while they are stuck there, and then monetize the data for a handsome profit, according t"

Texas sued Netflix for allegedly spying on children and designing its platform to be addictive. The complaint alleges Netflix falsely told consumers it did not collect or share user data, while tracking and selling viewing habits and preferences to data brokers and advertising technology companies. The suit also alleges Netflix used dark patterns to keep users watching, including autoplay that starts a new show when another ends. Netflix reportedly did not respond to requests for comment. The complaint cites a California jury verdict finding Meta and YouTube liable for designing addictive products that harmed young people, and it frames Netflix as having marketed itself as a safe alternative while allegedly harvesting information and later building an advertising business.

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