Texas sues Netflix over data collection

“When you watch Netflix, Netflix watches you” – while you watch Netflix, Netflix watches you. This is how Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of Texas, sums up his accusations against the US streaming service. His office has filed a lawsuit in the District Court in Collin County, Texas. In it, Paxton accuses Netflix of collecting data on a large scale and using it for targeted advertising. Meanwhile, Netflix is misleading its users into believing that it operates with data economy.

Netflix had given its customers the impression that it does not collect user data on a large scale and does not share it with third parties, the Republican writes in a press release on the lawsuit. The publicly accessible lawsuit contains screenshots and cross-references to several examples in which Netflix managers presented the streaming service as data-economical. Among others, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is quoted as writing in a letter to shareholders in 2019: “We don’t collect anything.”

“Netflix has built a surveillance program”

In fact, Netflix has passed on data about users to brokers and advertising companies, Paxton accuses the US company. There, it was linked with data from other platforms to compile detailed profiles of customers. By selling this data, Netflix generates billions in revenue annually. Paxton is particularly critical of this with young users and children. Furthermore, Netflix's actions violate the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA).

“Netflix has built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans’ personal data without their consent,” Paxton writes in a statement. In a statement to Reuters, Netflix dismisses the allegations as inaccurate and distorted. “Netflix takes our members’ privacy seriously and complies with privacy and data protection laws everywhere we operate.”

Autoplay criticized

In its lawsuit, Attorney General Paxton makes further accusations against Netflix that go beyond data collection: among other things, he accuses the company of manipulative practices that are particularly harmful to children – such as an autoplay function that is intended to keep users glued to the screen longer than planned.

In the lawsuit, Paxton asks Netflix to delete illegally collected data and to no longer share data with advertising partners without user consent in the future. In addition, Netflix is to pay US$10,000 per violation. Netflix told Reuters it would fight the allegations in court.

(dahe)