Florida sues Netflix, alleges streamer tracked children after promising families privacy

sued Netflix on Wednesday, accusing the streaming giant of misleading subscribers by promising an ad-free, privacy-focused service while secretly collecting years of behavioral data — including from children's profiles — to build the it long insisted it would never create.

The 66-page lawsuit alleges Netflix built its brand by assuring consumers that paying a monthly subscription meant they could avoid the surveillance-driven advertising model used by other major technology companies. Instead, Florida alleges Netflix quietly collected extensive user data before launching its ad-supported platform in November 2022.

"Netflix told Florida families they could pay a monthly fee to escape . That was false," Uthmeier said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. "Netflix collected detailed data on children and families, designed its product to keep kids watching, and then commercialized that information to launch the advertising business it promised never to build. Parents, not corporate executives, direct the upbringing of their children. Netflix should expect to be held accountable. "

The complaint points to repeated public statements from Netflix executives who touted the company as different from advertising-supported competitors. Among them, the lawsuit cites former CEO Reed Hastings, who said during a 2020 earnings call that Netflix was "not integrating everybody's data," adding, "We don't collect anything," and describing the streaming service as "the safe respite" from companies that exploit users through advertising.

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Florida alleges those assurances were misleading because Netflix built what the lawsuit describes as a massive behavioral-data operation that records how subscribers use the platform. According to the complaint, Netflix tracks billions of user interactions, including what subscribers watch, search for, pause, rewind, skip and abandon, along with information about their devices and locations. The state alleges Netflix uses that information to improve its recommendation systems and support its advertising business.

The lawsuit places particular emphasis on , which the company markets as dedicated spaces designed for children. Florida alleges Netflix encouraged parents to create children's profiles by describing them as "Great for kids" and a child's "own space" while continuing to collect and analyze children's viewing behavior through the same telemetry systems used for adult accounts.

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Florida also accuses Netflix of using so-called "dark patterns" to keep viewers engaged. The complaint alleges autoplay, which is enabled by default on Kids Profiles, is intentionally designed to extend viewing sessions, increase binge watching and generate , particularly from children.

The state further alleges Netflix expanded into the advertising business it once rejected by allowing advertisers and advertising technology companies to use subscriber data for audience targeting and campaign measurement after launching its ad-supported tier in November 2022.

The lawsuit accuses Netflix of violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the . Among other claims, Florida alleges Netflix unlawfully shared sensitive personal data collected from children without obtaining the consent required under state law.

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Uthmeier is asking the court to permanently block the alleged practices, order Netflix to delete data the state says was deceptively collected from Floridians, stop using historical subscriber data to support its advertising business, purge behavioral data collected through Kids Profiles, prohibit the use of alleged dark-pattern designs and impose civil penalties authorized under Florida law.

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Netflix did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.