Texas lawsuit targets Netflix’s data practices and autoplay design
The state of Texas has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, alleging the company spied on children and designed its platform to be addictive. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claims Netflix misrepresented its data collection practices, secretly tracked user habits, and used "dark patterns" to increase engagement, violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The lawsuit seeks for Netflix to purge illegally collected data, cease using data for targeted advertising without consent, and pay civil fines.
Key Takeaways
- Texas says Netflix tracked and sold viewer habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies.
- The complaint says Netflix misrepresented its data collection practices for years, telling consumers it did not collect or share user data.
- Paxton cites Netflix’s autoplay feature as a dark pattern designed to keep users watching.
- Texas is asking for purged illegally collected data, an end to targeted advertising without consent, and civil fines of up to $10,000 per violation.
Why It Matters
This is a direct regulatory attack on two core streaming mechanics: viewer data collection and engagement design. Texas is using the state Deceptive Trade Practices Act to argue that Netflix’s ads business was built on misrepresented privacy practices and features meant to keep users watching. The complaint also ties Netflix to the broader wave of lawsuits targeting social platforms and references the March Los Angeles jury verdict against Meta and YouTube. Watch for the requested remedies: data deletion, limits on targeted ads without consent, and any response from Netflix.
Read full article at theguardian.com