Netflix told users it didn’t collect their data. Texas says that was a lie — and now the state is taking the streaming giant to court

Netflix has landed itself in hot water with the state of Texas.

A lawsuit against the streaming giant was made by the state on Monday, saying the company has been spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without permission, and designing the platform to be addictive, Reuters and Fox Business reported.

The state accuses Netflix of falsely telling consumers it did not collect or share user data while raking in billions of dollars a year.

In the lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the complaint claims “Netflix’s endgame is simple and lucrative: get children and families glued to the screen, harvest their data while they are stuck there, and then monetize the data for a handsome profit.”

Texas added in the lawsuit, “When you watch Netflix, Netflix watched you.”

The streaming giant has also been accused of quietly using “dark patterns” or design tactics intended to manipulate user behavior to keep them tuned in, including an autoplay feature in which a new show starts when the previous show would end.

In a press release, Paxton claims that the streaming platform “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.”

In response to the allegations, a Netflix spokesperson said the company intends to address the matter in court.

“Respectfully to the great state of Texas and Attorney General Paxton, this lawsuit lacks merit and is ​based on inaccurate and distorted information,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Netflix takes our members’ privacy ​seriously and complies with privacy and data protection laws everywhere we operate.”

Texas’ complaint quoted Netflix co-founder and chairman Reed Hastings as saying in 2020, “we don’t collect anything,” as he attempted to distinguish Netflix’s approach to data collection from the approaches of Amazon, Google and Facebook.

Paxton will charge the streaming platform under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act and wants Netflix to stop the unlawful collection and disclosure of data.

He wants Netflix to purge data if collected illegally, not to use the data for targeted advertising without users’ consent, and to pay civil fines of up to $10,000 per violation.

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