Florida Sues Netflix for Billions, Alleging It Secretly Harvested Kids’ Data to Fuel Ads
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is suing Netflix for billions of dollars, accusing the streaming giant of secretly tracking children and families for years before using subscriber data to fuel an advertising business it had publicly resisted.
The 66-page lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit in St. Johns County, alleges Netflix recorded billions of user interactions, from what subscribers watched and searched for to what they paused, rewound, skipped or abandoned. Device and location information were also collected, including activity tied to profiles used by children, according to the complaint.
Florida is pursuing five claims. Four accuse Netflix of deceptive or unfair practices under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, targeting the company’s alleged commercialization of subscriber data, representations about Kids Profiles, statements about tracking and advertising, and features designed to keep viewers watching.
A fifth claim accuses Netflix of violating the Florida Digital Bill of Rights by selling sensitive personal information, including data involving known children, without required consent.
“Netflix told Florida families they could pay a monthly fee to escape Big Tech surveillance. That was false,” Uthmeier said in announcing the case.
Netflix denies wrongdoing and has called the lawsuit meritless. It maintains that it complies with privacy and data protection laws, takes member privacy seriously and has safeguards in place for children who use the service.
The dispute reaches back years before Netflix introduced advertising. Company executives had repeatedly distinguished the subscription service from internet businesses built around ads and extensive consumer tracking, a history Florida now uses to support its claims that subscribers were misled about how their information was being collected and used.
Behind that subscription model, Netflix was building detailed records of viewer behavior, the complaint alleges. The information fed recommendation systems that learned what users watched, when they stopped watching and what kept them on the platform.
Netflix changed course in November 2022 with the launch of its ad-supported plan. Florida contends that years of subscriber information then became part of an advertising operation capable of grouping and reaching audiences through characteristics such as household composition, income, and life stage.
Kids Profiles give the case another layer. Netflix offers the profiles for children 12 and younger and has represented that behavioral advertising is not used on them.
The lawsuit accuses Netflix of continuing to collect and analyze activity generated through those accounts, including searches, viewing choices, and playback behavior. Florida argues those practices conflict with how the company presented Kids Profiles to parents and form part of its consumer deception claims.
The privacy claim goes further than whether Netflix tracked viewing habits. Florida is challenging what allegedly happened when personal information was made available for advertising and other commercial purposes.
Under the state’s Digital Bill of Rights, certain transfers of personal information can qualify as a sale, even when consumer data is not handed over through a conventional cash transaction. The complaint accuses Netflix of crossing that line when sensitive information was made available to advertising and technology partners without obtaining consent required by Florida law.
The inclusion of children raises the potential financial exposure. Florida’s privacy law allows penalties of up to $50,000 for each violation, with the amount subject to tripling when a violation involves a known child. Uthmeier has said the state intends to seek billions, although the ultimate amount would depend on what violations Florida can establish in court.
Another part of the case targets how Netflix keeps viewers watching.
Autoplay and other engagement features are described in the complaint as dark patterns designed to extend viewing sessions and reduce the likelihood that users will stop watching. Florida connects those features directly to its allegations involving children, arguing that longer sessions produced more behavioral information while keeping younger viewers on the service.
The design allegations make up one of the four consumer protection claims rather than a separate child safety lawsuit. Florida is using them as part of its broader argument that Netflix’s public promises, data practices and platform design collectively amounted to unfair or deceptive conduct.
Uthmeier wants the court to order Netflix to stop the challenged practices and delete certain information collected from Florida consumers. The requested relief includes purging behavioral data associated with Kids Profiles and restricting the use of historical subscriber information for advertising.
Netflix provides privacy disclosures explaining its data and advertising practices and gives subscribers controls over some uses of their information. Parents can also restrict or block content available through children’s profiles.
Florida is not the first state to take Netflix to court over similar accusations. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the company in May, alleging Netflix collected and monetized consumer information, including data associated with children’s profiles, without proper knowledge or consent. Netflix has denied wrongdoing in that case as well.
The Florida case is in its early stages, and none of the allegations have been proven. Netflix will have an opportunity to formally respond as the lawsuit moves forward over whether its years of data collection, later advertising business, and treatment of children’s information violated Florida law.
