Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton initiated legal proceedings against Netflix, asserting that the platform gathered personal information from users, including those on children's profiles, contrary to the company's assertions. The legal complaint accuses Netflix of generating billions in annual revenue by covertly sharing customer details with data brokers and digital marketing firms.
In a statement accompanying the lawsuit announcement, Paxton declared, '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.'
The complaint from Texas further alleges that Netflix employs tactics to influence user engagement. It criticizes elements like the autoplay function, which purportedly encourages prolonged viewing sessions, particularly among young audiences. Among the remedies requested are making autoplay inactive by default for kids' accounts and halting Netflix's supposed practices of acquiring and disseminating user information.
A Netflix representative responded via email to Engadget, describing the legal action as 'lacking merit and based on inaccurate and distorted information.' The complete response reads:
"Respectfully to the great state of Texas and Attorney General Paxton, this lawsuit lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information. Netflix takes our members' privacy seriously and complies with privacy and data‑protection laws everywhere we operate. We look forward to addressing the Texas Attorney General's allegations in court and further explaining our industry-leading, kid‑friendly parental controls and transparent privacy practices."
This report incorporates Netflix's commentary following its initial publication on May 11 at 7 p.m. ET.