Florida sues Netflix over alleged harvesting of children's data

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, alleging the streaming service deceptively collected and used the data of children and families to fuel its advertising business. The 66-page complaint, filed in the Seventh Judicial Circuit, claims Netflix misled consumers by marketing itself as an ad-free, data-secure service while secretly tracking billions of behavioral events.

According to the lawsuit, the data collected includes device information, location, viewing habits, and specific user interactions such as pausing, rewinding, or skipping content. The state alleges these metrics were used to train algorithms and support the advertising model launched in November 2022. The suit specifically highlights the exploitation of profiles designed for children under 12, which were marketed as safe, private spaces.

Uthmeier is seeking billions of dollars in civil penalties, a permanent injunction to stop these practices, and an order for Netflix to purge deceptively collected data. Netflix has rejected the allegations, stating that it complies with all privacy laws and maintains safeguards for younger users, arguing the lawsuit lacks legal merit.