Texas sues Netflix for advertising ‘bait and switch’ and spying
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the company of turning its back on its promise to remain ad-free and safe for children. The lawsuit, filed Monday, claims Netflix “opened up Texans’ data for inspection by the same Big Ad Tech community it once criticized for exploiting users in the same way.”
In the lawsuit, Paxton claims Netflix increased subscriptions by presenting its platform as an “escape from Big Tech surveillance.” But that changed when Netflix introduced an ad-supported streaming plan in 2022, something co-founder Reed Hastings promised not to do. Its shift to digital advertising allowed Netflix to use “the mountains of data it quietly extracted from children and families,” the lawsuit claims.
Paxton accuses Netflix of creating a “behavioral monitoring program” that involves collecting information about “user events” like their location, the device they’re using, search terms, how they rate content, and more. The streaming service is accused of opening up this information to data brokers like Experian and Acxiom:
Netflix’s years of bait-and-switch have led the company to where it promised it would never be: getting kids and families hooked on its platform, exploiting those users for data, and then converting that data into lucrative insights for global advertising heavyweights.
In addition to accusing Netflix of being an advertising “bait and switch,” Paxton claims that Netflix misled its subscribers about child safety, citing its autoplay feature enabled by default on adult and child profiles. “Netflix is not the ad-free, kid-friendly platform it claims to be. Instead, it has misled consumers while exploiting their private data to make billions,” Paxton says in the press release.
Netflix spokesperson Jamil Walker said in an emailed statement to The edge that Paxton’s lawsuit “lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information:”
Netflix takes the privacy of its members seriously and complies with privacy and data protection laws wherever we operate. We look forward to responding to the Texas Attorney General’s allegations in court and further explaining our industry-leading, child-friendly parental controls and transparent privacy practices.
Paxton accuses Netflix of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and asks the court to block the streamer’s “unlawful collection and disclosure” of user data, as well as disable autoplay by default on children’s profiles.
May 11 update: Added a statement from Netflix.
