Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues Netflix Over User Data Collection And Addictive Design

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Netflix on Monday, accusing the streaming company of collecting and monetizing user data without consent and designing features meant to keep people watching longer.

“The 59-page lawsuit, filed in Collin County on Monday”

CBS News

Paxton’s office said Netflix “records and monetises billions” of pieces of information about how users behave on the platform, and the BBC reported the lawsuit describes “Every interaction on the platform became a data point revealing information about the user.”

6abc Philadelphia

The BBC said the filing alleges Netflix used “addictive” design features like auto-playing content alongside extensive “logging” of user activity to keep people on the site.

CBS News reported the 59-page lawsuit was filed in Collin County on Monday and opened by citing a 2019 statement from Netflix co-founder and former CEO Reed Hastings about not collecting information.

Netflix rejected the claims, with a spokesperson telling Reuters, “Respectfully to the great state of Texas and Attorney General Paxton, this lawsuit lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information.”

The BBC said Texas accused Netflix of “spying” on citizens by recording and monetising information about how users behave, despite suggesting otherwise.

CBS News quoted Paxton’s announcement saying Netflix “uses intentional engineering to track and log users' viewing habits, preferences, devices, household networks, application usage, and other sensitive behavioral data.”

BBC

The Guardian reported Texas also accused Netflix of quietly using “dark patterns” to keep users watching, including an autoplay feature that starts a new show when a different show ends.

In the lawsuit, Texas cited Reed Hastings’ statements, including a 2020 claim that “we don’t collect anything,” and the BBC said the filing quotes Hastings as having said Netflix did not and would not collect or monetise user data.

Netflix responded that the case “lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information,” and said it would challenge the allegations in court.

Texas’s lawsuit seeks court orders aimed at both data handling and autoplay, and the BBC said Paxton wants the court to order Netflix to delete any data “deceptively collected from Texans” and to cease processing their data for targeted advertising.

“turn auto-play off by default for children's profiles”

BBC

The BBC also said Paxton wants Netflix to “turn auto-play off by default for children's profiles,” while CBS News reported the state is suing under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

CBS News said Paxton accused Netflix of sharing data with commercial data brokers and advertising companies to build detailed advertising profiles, and the BBC said the filing describes Netflix “sharing this with commercial data brokers.”

The Guardian reported Paxton wants Netflix to purge data it collected illegally, not use the data for targeted advertising without users’ consent, and pay civil fines of up to $10,000 per violation.

Netflix’s spokesperson told Reuters that the company “takes our members' privacy seriously and complies with privacy and data‑protection laws everywhere we operate,” and said it would address the allegations in court.