Texas AG Sues Netflix Over Spying on Kids & Consumers

Q: What is Texas asking the court to order?

The State seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000 per DTPA violation (with an additional amount of up to $250,000 where conduct targeted consumers 65 or older), temporary and permanent injunctions, disgorgement, and attorneys' fees and costs. The requested injunctive relief includes ordering Netflix to purge data deceptively collected from Texans, to obtain express informed consent before using Texans' data for targeted advertising, to obtain parental consent before collecting children's behavioral data, and to set autoplay to off by default on all kids profiles.

Q: Does this lawsuit cover Netflix users outside Texas?

No. This is a Texas state enforcement action and the relief sought is focused on Texas consumers and Texas law. The petition describes Netflix's data practices broadly, but the claims are brought under Texas's consumer-protection statute on behalf of the State of Texas. Other states or federal regulators could bring their own actions, and a Dutch regulator has separately addressed Netflix's disclosures, but those are distinct matters.

By Steve Levine

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues Netflix over alleged secret data collection from Texans and children

Published: May 31, 2026

▼ Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet

This article describes a government enforcement lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General. The statements below are unproven allegations drawn from the State's petition. Netflix has not been found liable, no court has ruled on the merits, and there is no settlement, no class, and nothing to claim. This page is informational and is not legal advice.

Status Lawsuit Filed State enforcement action in Collin County, Texas · allegations only · no settlement

Who Filed Texas AG Ken Paxton State of Texas v. Netflix, Inc., under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act

What's Alleged Secret Data Tracking & Sale including data from kids profiles, while promising to be ad-free and kid-friendly

Relief Sought Penalties + Injunction up to $10,000 per violation, data purge, and autoplay off by default on kids profiles

Can I Claim? No — Not a Class Action this is a state enforcement suit; there is no claim form for consumers

What Is the Texas Netflix Lawsuit About?

The State of Texas, acting through Attorney General Ken Paxton, has filed a consumer-protection lawsuit against Netflix, Inc., alleging that the streaming company secretly collected and monetized Texans' personal data — including data tied to children's profiles — while publicly insisting it was an ad-free, kid-friendly alternative to the rest of Big Tech. The case, captioned State of Texas v. Netflix, Inc., was filed in District Court in Collin County, Texas, and is brought under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (the "DTPA"). The verification accompanying the State's petition was executed on May 11, 2026.

According to the petition, Netflix told consumers for years that it would never become a data-driven advertising company. The State quotes statements attributed to Netflix's leadership — including former CEO Reed Hastings — to the effect that Netflix had "no advertising," did "not collect anything," and was "a complete, isolated data island." The petition alleges that, in reality, Netflix built what it describes internally as "a logging company that occasionally streams movies," recording and analyzing billions of behavioral "events" generated as people watch.

This is a government enforcement action, not a class action. The Texas Attorney General is suing on behalf of the State of Texas to obtain civil penalties payable to the State and court orders changing Netflix's conduct. There is no settlement fund, no class, and no claim form. Individual Netflix users are not being asked to file anything. The allegations summarized below are drawn from the State's petition and have not been proven; Netflix has not yet answered the suit and no court has ruled on the merits.

The Promise: "Ad-Free and Kid-Friendly"

The petition frames the case as a "bait-and-switch." It alleges Netflix built its subscriber base on a simple promise: pay a monthly fee and avoid the surveillance-advertising practices that define the rest of Big Tech. The State alleges Netflix repeatedly contrasted itself with Google, Facebook, and Amazon, criticizing those companies for "serving two masters" — the consumer and the advertiser — and positioning a paid Netflix subscription as a "safe respite" from that model.

The petition also alleges that Netflix marketed kids profiles as safe, segregated spaces designed to protect children. According to the State, Netflix steered parents toward creating kids profiles during signup, described those profiles as "a safe area" for "kids 12 and under," and assured families that it does not engage in behavioral advertising on kids profiles. The State alleges these representations led Texans to "hand over the remote" with confidence that Netflix operated differently from advertising-driven platforms.

The Allegation: A Behavioral-Surveillance "Logging" Operation

The heart of the petition is the State's allegation that, behind the ad-free messaging, Netflix constructed a large-scale behavioral-logging system. The State alleges Netflix treats every device — TV, phone, tablet, console — as a sensor for collecting "user events," and that those events capture granular detail about how people use the service, allegedly including:

• what content a user watches, and the day, time, and location of viewing
• the device used and other devices on the home network
• searches, keywords, and how a user browses and scrolls
• pauses, rewinds, rewatches, fast-forwards, and where a user stops or abandons a show
• how a user rates content and how long sessions last

The petition cites Netflix engineering and technical presentations describing very large-scale logging and data pipelines, and alleges this data is "aggregated to provide base data for algorithms" and used to build detailed profiles of subscribers. The State alleges Netflix did not clearly disclose the true scale or granularity of this collection in its consumer-facing privacy statements, pointing to a 2024 finding by the Dutch Data Protection Authority that Netflix had not sufficiently informed customers about what it did with their personal data during a 2018–2020 period.

The Children's-Data Allegations

The petition devotes significant attention to children. The State alleges that, after presenting kids profiles as protected spaces, Netflix collects and analyzes children's behavioral interactions through the same systems it uses for adults. According to the State, Netflix's public assurance that there is "no behavioral advertising" on kids profiles is a "deception by omission" — the argument being that behavioral advertising cannot occur without first collecting behavioral data, and that parents are not clearly told the underlying data is still being gathered from their children.

The State alleges this leaves parents without a meaningful chance to decide whether their child should be subject to that level of data collection, and that Netflix withholds certain privacy controls from kids profiles on the rationale that behavioral ads do not run there. Again, these are allegations; Netflix has not responded to them in court.

The "Dark Patterns" and Autoplay Allegations

The petition alleges Netflix designed its platform to be habit-forming through "dark patterns" — interface features the State says are engineered to keep users watching. The central example is autoplay, which the State alleges is enabled by default on every profile, including kids profiles, and which automatically starts the next episode or promotional content without any action from the viewer.

The State alleges autoplay strips away the natural stopping points that would cue a user (or a child) to step away, and that longer viewing sessions both produce more behavioral data for Netflix and make the platform more valuable to advertisers. The petition ties the addictive-design allegations to the data allegations: each additional minute of engagement, the State argues, is another minute of behavioral signals flowing into Netflix's logging system.

The "Encore": An Advertising Company After All

The petition alleges that after years of promising never to sell ads, Netflix pivoted into digital advertising and began leveraging the data it had accumulated. According to the State, Netflix now offers advertisers identity-matching and "data collaboration" capabilities and has opened access to commercial data brokers and ad-technology platforms. The petition specifically references partners and platforms named in Netflix's own advertiser-facing announcements, including LiveRamp, Experian, Acxiom, Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk, Yahoo DSP, and Amazon DSP.

The State's theory is that none of this was meaningfully disclosed to consumers, whose privacy policies, it alleges, continued to "speak in evasive generalities" even as Netflix's marketing to advertisers laid out in concrete terms how it would match, enrich, and activate user data. The petition alleges Netflix's disclosures evolved over time — adding limited examples of the events it collects only after regulatory scrutiny — but still omitted key details about who receives the data and how it is combined.

What Laws Does Texas Say Netflix Violated?

The lawsuit is brought under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 17.41 et seq. The State alleges violations of Sections 17.46(a) and (b), which prohibit false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of trade and commerce. The petition organizes its theory into several counts:

• Deceptive acts or practices generally under § 17.46(a) and (b).
• Misrepresentations that paid subscriptions shield users from data-driven advertising.
• Misrepresentations that Netflix does not collect behavioral data from children / that kids profiles are safe, segregated spaces.
• Misrepresentations regarding how Netflix shares user data with advertisers, data brokers, and ad-tech platforms.
• Deceptive use of dark patterns to addict users, including failing to disclose that autoplay is designed to extend viewing.

The State emphasizes that, to bring a DTPA enforcement action seeking civil penalties, it is not required to allege injury to any individual consumer — it need only have reason to believe a person is engaging in, has engaged in, or is about to engage in an unlawful act or practice, and that the proceeding is in the public interest.

What Is Texas Asking the Court to Order?

The State's prayer for relief asks the court to find that Netflix violated the DTPA and to award:

• Civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation under § 17.47(c)(1), plus an additional amount of up to $250,000 where the conduct was calculated to acquire or deprive money or property from a consumer 65 or older.
• Temporary and permanent injunctive relief, including orders to:
  — purge all data deceptively collected from Texans;
  — stop using Texans' data for targeted advertising without express, informed consent;
  — stop collecting children's behavioral data without parental consent;
  — set autoplay to "off" by default on all kids profiles; and
  — stop "clean room" data collaboration involving Texas consumers without adequate disclosure.
• Disgorgement of Netflix's assets as provided by law and equity.
• Attorneys' fees and costs, plus pre- and post-judgment interest.

The petition also includes an application for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction during the pendency of the suit, and demands a jury trial.

What This Means for Netflix Users

Because this is a state enforcement action rather than a class action, there is no claim form and no payment process for individual users. If Texas prevails or settles the case, the result would generally take the form of penalties paid to the State and court-ordered changes to Netflix's practices — not checks to consumers.

Practical steps for users who want more control now:

• Review your Netflix account's privacy, marketing, and ad-personalization settings.
• Turn off autoplay in your playback settings — this can be set per profile, including kids profiles.
• If you have questions about a specific setting, use Netflix's official Help Center rather than any third party.
• Be skeptical of scams. High-profile lawsuits attract fake "settlement" sites and phishing messages. There is no Netflix privacy settlement to claim from this case; anyone promising you a payment is not legitimate.

What Happens Next

Netflix has not yet filed a response to the petition, and the company has not been found to have done anything unlawful. Typical next steps in a case like this include Netflix's answer or preliminary motions, briefing on the State's request for temporary injunctive relief, discovery, and potentially a jury trial unless the matter is resolved earlier. OCA will update this page as the case develops.

Related Children's-Privacy and Platform Cases on OCA

The Texas suit sits inside a wider wave of government enforcement and class actions over how tech platforms collect children's data and engineer engagement. The most relevant adjacent matters:

Government enforcement & streaming/privacy cases:

• Iowa Attorney General Sues Roblox Over Child Safety and Consumer Fraud (2026) — another state AG using a consumer-protection statute against a platform over how it treats children.
• Disney $2.75M CCPA Privacy Settlement (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+) — the California AG's enforcement action over streaming data-sharing after opt-out; a close parallel to the data-sale allegations here.
• Disney $10M FTC COPPA Children's Privacy Settlement — federal enforcement over how a major entertainment company handled kids' data.
• Google Play Children's Privacy Settlement — $8.25M, No Proof — a children's-privacy class action over data collected from young users.

Kids, addiction & dark-pattern cases:

• How to File a Social Media Addiction Lawsuit for a Minor — the broader litigation over platforms designed to keep minors engaged, echoing Texas's autoplay and dark-pattern allegations.
• Disney Sued Over Facial Recognition Scans at Disneyland — a recent complaint over biometric data collection from guests, including children.
• TikTok Data Privacy $92M Settlement — one of the largest consumer settlements over app behavioral-data collection.

How Do I Find Class Action Settlements?

Find all the latest class actions you can qualify for by getting notified of new lawsuits as soon as they are open to claims:

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a Netflix privacy class action settlement to claim?

No. This is a government enforcement lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General under the Texas DTPA, not a class action and not a settlement. There is no settlement fund and no claim form. Texas is seeking civil penalties payable to the State and injunctive relief, not individual consumer payments.

What does the Texas Attorney General allege Netflix did?

The petition alleges Netflix represented for years that it was ad-free, did not collect or integrate user data, and kept kids profiles as safe segregated spaces, while in reality building a large-scale behavioral logging system and later making that data available to advertising-technology companies and data brokers. It also alleges Netflix collected the same behavioral data on kids profiles and used default autoplay to extend viewing. These are unproven allegations.

What law is Netflix accused of violating?

The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (DTPA), Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 17.41 et seq. The State alleges violations of Sections 17.46(a) and (b), which prohibit false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices in trade and commerce.

What is Texas asking the court to order?

Civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation (with up to an additional $250,000 where conduct targeted consumers 65 or older), temporary and permanent injunctions, disgorgement, and attorneys' fees. The requested injunction includes purging data collected from Texans, obtaining express consent before targeted advertising, obtaining parental consent before collecting children's data, and setting autoplay off by default on all kids profiles.

Does this lawsuit cover Netflix users outside Texas?

No. This is a Texas state enforcement action brought under Texas's consumer-protection statute on behalf of the State of Texas, and the relief sought is focused on Texas consumers. Other states or federal regulators could bring their own actions.

What can Netflix users do right now?

There is nothing to file because there is no settlement and no claim process. Users who want more control can review their account's privacy and ad settings and turn off autoplay in playback settings, including on kids profiles. Use Netflix's official Help Center for account-specific questions, and ignore any third party promising a payout.

Sources

• State of Texas v. Netflix, Inc., Plaintiff's Original Petition and Application for Temporary and Permanent Injunctions, District Court, Collin County, Texas (verification executed May 11, 2026)
• Office of the Attorney General of Texas — News Releases
• Dutch Data Protection Authority — Netflix fined for not properly informing customers

Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet This page covers a government enforcement lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General. The allegations described above are drawn from the State's petition and have not been proven in court. Netflix has not filed a response and denies no specific allegation here on its behalf; no court has ruled on the merits. There is no settlement, no settlement fund, and no claim form.

About This Page

This page summarizes State of Texas v. Netflix, Inc., a consumer-protection enforcement action filed by the Texas Attorney General in District Court, Collin County, Texas. OpenClassActions.com is a consumer news site and is not a law firm, government agency, or party to this case. The allegations in the petition have not been proven in court. This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have questions about how this matter may affect you, contact a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction.

Status Lawsuit Filed — No Settlement, No Claim Form

Case Title State of Texas v. Netflix, Inc.

Plaintiff State of Texas (Attorney General Ken Paxton)

Case Number Not yet assigned (Cause No. pending)

Court District Court, Collin County, Texas

Legal Basis Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 17.41 et seq.)

Date Filed May 2026 Verification executed May 11, 2026

Relief Sought Civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation; injunctive relief; disgorgement; attorneys' fees

Official Source Texas Attorney General

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