Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Netflix<\/a>\u00a0was sued on \u2060Monday by\u00a0Texas\u00a0Attorney General\u00a0Ken Paxton, who accused the streaming company of spying on children \u200band other consumers \u200bby collecting their data \u200bwithout consent, and designing its platform to be addictive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas\u00a0said\u00a0Netflix\u00a0has for years falsely represented to consumers that it did not collect or \u2060share \u200cuser data, when it actually tracked and sold \u2060viewers’ habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies, making billions of dollars a year.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Los Gatos, California-based company was also accused of quietly using “dark patterns” \u200cto keep users watching, including an autoplay feature that starts a new show when a different show ends.<\/p>\n Netflix\u00a0did not \u200bimmediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Many companies, including social media and other businesses with strong online presences, are targets of lawsuits accusing them of quietly tracking users and selling the \u2060resulting data to third parties, who use the data for advertising.<\/p>\n Texas’\u00a0complaint quoted former \u200cNetflix Chief Executive\u00a0Reed Hastings\u00a0as saying in \u200c2020 “we don’t collect anything,” as he sought to distinguish\u00a0Netflix\u00a0from\u00a0Amazon.com<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Google<\/a>\u00a0with regard to data collection.<\/p>\n “Netflix’s endgame is simple and lucrative: get \u2060children and families glued to the screen, harvest their data while \u2060they are stuck there, and then monetize the data \u2060for a handsome profit,” according to Texas’ complaint filed in a state court in\u00a0Collin County, near\u00a0Dallas. “When you watch \u200bNetflix,\u00a0Netflix\u00a0watches you,” the \u200ccomplaint added.<\/p>\n Paxton said\u00a0Netflix’s alleged surveillance violates the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.<\/p>\n He wants the company to purge data it collected illegally, not use the data for targeted advertising without users’ consent, and pay civil fines of up to\u00a0$10,000\u00a0\u200bper violation.<\/p>\n Paxton, a Republican, is running \u200cfor the\u00a0U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Republican Senator\u00a0John Cornyn.<\/p>\n