Florida’s attorney general has sued Netflix, alleging the company tracked children and sold their information to advertisers. The lawsuit, filed this week by Attorney General James Uthmeier, claims Netflix misled consumers about staying ad‑free and about how it would handle user data. Netflix denies the allegations and says it will fight the case.
What the lawsuit says
According to the complaint, “Netflix’s representations that it would remain ad‑free, refrain from collecting and integrating user data, and design kids profiles to protect children were made at the highest levels of the company.” The filing further alleges that “behind the scenes, Netflix was accumulating years of consumer data and building the behavioral‑surveillance infrastructure that it would ultimately deploy for its advertising business in November 2022.”
AG’s public statement
Uthmeier framed the case as a parental‑control issue, saying, “This lawsuit is about parents, because it’s parents who should oversee the privacy of their kids, not a big tech company that’s profiting despite public safety. Parents, not streaming corporations need to direct the upbringing of children.”
Netflix’s response
Netflix rejected the claims. “Netflix takes our members’ privacy seriously,” the company said. “We comply with privacy and data‑protection laws everywhere we operate and have dedicated safeguards in place for kids who watch content on Netflix. This lawsuit lacks merit and we intend to vigorously defend the matter in court.”
Related backdrop flagged by TheWrap
TheWrap noted that Uthmeier’s lawsuit follows a separate case filed “by the People of California” in February against the online game Roblox. That suit alleged, “Roblox portrays its platform as a safe and appropriate place for children to play,” but “the design of its platform makes children easy prey for pedophiles.” TheWrap added that Roblox reported “151 million daily active users in its third quarter and nearly 400 million active monthly users with around 40% of them under the age of 13,” and said the California suit claimed Roblox’s safety assurances were “contradicted by the app’s own design choices and monetization practices.”
