Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he filed a lawsuit this week against Netflix for spying on Texans, including minors, and for collecting data without their consent.
“For years, Netflix represented to consumers that it did not collect or share extensive user data. In reality, Netflix is a logging company that records and monetizes billions of behavioral events — and occasionally streams movies,” apress releasefrom Paxton’s office read.
“Netflix uses intentional engineering to track and log users’ viewing habits, preferences, devices, household networks, application usage, and other sensitive behavioral data. Every interaction on the platform became a data point revealing information about the user. This tracking applied to not only adults’ accounts, but also kids’ profiles.”
The release went on to state that, “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.”
Thelawsuitalleged Netflix disseminated the information “to commercial data brokers like Experian and Acxiom — entities entirely unrelated to streaming entertainment.”
“Netflix has also partnered with dominant ad‑tech platforms, including Google Display & Video 360 and The Trade Desk, to further enable Netflix user data to be merged with information collected off the platform,” the filing read.
The lawsuit accused the platform of earning “billions of dollars every year by quietly deploying the exact playbook it publicly eschewed to lure consumers in the first place.”
It argued that the “bait-and-switch” strategy has resulted in children and families becoming addicted so the company can mine their personal data and sell “lucrative intelligence for global advertising juggernauts.”
“Simply put, this is deceptive conduct that violates Texas law,” the lawsuit concluded.
In addition, Paxton took aim at the streaming giant’s auto-play function, which encourages viewers, specifically children, to watch for longer periods of time.
Source: VidNews » Feed
