Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a lawsuit into Netflix over accusations the subscription-based streaming service tracked profiles used by children to collect and sell data before using that information to launch its advertising business on its platform while speaking at a press conference in Tallahassee this week.
“Netflix told Florida families they could pay a monthly fee to escape Big Tech surveillance. That was false,” Uthmeier said in a release. “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 allegedly told users, “We don’t collect anything," adding the company's platform was a “safe respite" for families to “relax and have none of the controversy around exploiting users with advertising.”
The lawsuit calls those interpretations a "bait and switch" and alleges the platform logged billions of behavioral events including what devices children use and where and when they use them, as well as what content they watch, pause, rewind, search, skip, and abandon. The suit claims that information was then used to optimize algorithms and power advertising.
The State of Florida claims those violate the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the Florida Digital Bill of Rights, including selling and gathering sensitive personal children from children without their consent.
It also alleges the platform misled parents.
Specifically, it says Netflix advertises children's profiles as their “own space" and "great for kids," while marketing them as 12 and under. It also assures parents it does not engage in behavioral advertising on profiles.
As consequence, Attorney General Uthmeier is ordering Netflix to delete data it allegedly collected from Floridians and remove "dark-pattern" designs intended to keep children engaging in its content.
