Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, alleging the streaming giant spent years promising families an ad-free service that would not collect or sell their data — then secretly tracked children on kids profiles and built the very advertising business it swore it would never create.
“Netflix told Florida families they could pay a monthly fee to escape Big Tech surveillance. That was false,” Uthmeier said.
“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.”
According to the complaint, Netflix’s chief executive publicly stated, “We don’t collect anything,” and described the platform as a “safe respite” where families could “relax and have none of the controversy around exploiting users with advertising.”
The state alleges those representations were a bait-and-switch. The complaint claims Netflix records billions of behavioral events — including what devices Floridians and their children use, where they are when using them, and what content they watch, pause, rewind, search, skip, and abandon — then uses that data to train algorithms and power its advertising engine.
Kids profiles at the center of allegations
The lawsuit alleges Netflix misled parents about its kids profiles. Netflix markets those profiles as a child’s “own space,” describes them as “Great for kids,” says they are intended for ages 12 and under, and tells parents it “do[es] not engage in behavioral advertising on Kids profiles.”
The state says that assurance is a half-truth. According to the complaint, Netflix still collects and analyzes children’s viewing behavior through the same systems it uses for adults.
Data shared with brokers after ad launch
After launching its advertising tier in November 2022, Netflix allegedly opened Floridians’ data to commercial data brokers and advertising platforms — allowing advertisers to target users by life stage, income and household composition. The complaint alleges Netflix never obtained the consent required under Florida law.
What Florida is seeking
The lawsuit charges Netflix with violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the Florida Digital Bill of Rights, including allegedly selling sensitive personal data collected from known children without prior consent.
The attorney general is seeking a permanent injunction, an order requiring Netflix to purge data deceptively collected from Floridians, an end to dark-pattern designs that keep children watching, civil penalties and other relief authorized by Florida law.
The action is part of Florida’s ongoing effort to protect children, empower parents and hold Big Tech companies accountable.
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