{"id":288859,"date":"2026-05-12T01:49:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T01:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/288859\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T01:49:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T01:49:18","slug":"netflix-is-spying-on-children-and-selling-user-data-texas-ag-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/288859\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix is spying on children and selling user data: Texas AG lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant\u00a0Netflix\u00a0on Monday, accusing the company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent and <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2018\/03\/13\/netflix-may-be-trying-to-get-kids-addicted-to-binge-watching-tv\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">designing the platform to be addictive.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Texas\u00a0claims that Netflix has falsely represented to consumers that it didn\u2019t collect or share user data while it actually tracked and sold viewers\u2019 habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claims that \u201cNetflix\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you watch Netflix, Netflix watched you,\u201d Texas added in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint quotes comments made by<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/16\/media\/netflix-co-founder-reed-hastings-makes-shock-exit-sending-shares-tumbling\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> former CEO Reed Hastings <\/a>who said in 2020, while he was still leading the streaming company, that \u201cwe don\u2019t collect anything,\u201d amid questions over Big Tech companies\u2019\u00a0data collection\u00a0practices.<\/p>\n<p>Netflix was also accused of quietly using \u201cdark patterns\u201d to keep users watching on its platform, such as an autoplay feature that starts a new show after a different show ends.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50367107;display:block\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39349196\" width=\"887\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/woman-launches-netflix-application-lenovo-127508260.jpg\" alt=\"Woman launches Netflix application on Lenovo tablet, displaying various TV show titles.\" class=\"wp-image-39349196\"  \/>The state of Texas has filed a lawsuit against Netflix for allegedly spying on children and other consumers by collecting data without consent. Daniel Kraso\u00c3\u00e2 \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39349195\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-gaylord-texan-resort-convention-126805830.jpg\" alt=\"Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaking at CPAC 2026.\" class=\"wp-image-39349195\"  \/>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed that Netflix aims to monetize user data after getting them addicted to the platform. REUTERS<\/p>\n<p>Paxton said in a press release that Netflix \u201chas built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans\u2019 personal data without their consent, and my office will do everything in our power to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The attorney general said he\u2019s charging Netflix under the state\u2019s\u00a0Deceptive Trade Practices Act\u00a0and seeks to require Netflix to stop the unlawful collection and disclosure of user data, require Netflix to disable autoplay by default on kid\u2019s profiles, and to secure injunctive relief and civil penalties.<\/p>\n<p>FOX Business reached out to Netflix for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Reuters contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant\u00a0Netflix\u00a0on Monday, accusing the company of spying on children&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[910,105800,9850,14409,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-288859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-business","tag-cyberspying","tag-lawsuits","tag-netflix","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}