Texas sues Netflix for allegedly 'spying' on users and making the service 'addictive'

Source: Yahoo Tech

Texas has sued Netflix, alleging that the company “spies” on its users and purposely designs its service to be “addictive.” The state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, announced the lawsuit today, alleging that Netflix “represented to consumers that it did not collect or share extensive user data” for years, while it was actually collecting and selling that information to data brokers.

The complaint, which was filed in a Texas district court, cites Netflix CEO Reed Hastings claiming in a 2020 earnings call that, “We don’t collect anything,” when comparing the company to other tech giants like Google, Facebook and Amazon. Paxton, who is currently running for U.S. Senate in the Texas Republican primary, claims that Netflix’s collection of user data violates Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

“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,” the complaint claims.

The Texas suit comes as tech companies are under increasing scrutiny over how they design their apps and services, along with the potential danger they may pose to kids. In March, a California jury found Meta and YouTube liable in a social media addiction suit. Meta was also found liable on that same day in an online child safety case brought by New Mexico.

Read more: https://tech.yahoo.com/streaming/article/texas-sues-netflix-for-allegedly-spying-on-users-and-making-the-service-addictive-223650442.html