Cybersecurity Policy Report, Florida AG Alleges Netflix Deceived Customers About Data Privacy, (Sep 10, 2026)
Netflix misled subscribers when it promised not to collect their personal information, instead harvesting large amounts of data about adults and children and monetizing it through behavioral ads and sales to data brokers, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R.) alleged in a lawsuit filed yesterday.
“Netflix told Florida families they could pay a monthly fee to escape Big Tech surveillance. That was false,” AG Uthmeier said in a news release. “Netflix collected detailed data on children and families, designed its product to keep kids watching, and then commercialized that information to launch the advertising business it promised never to build.”
The lawsuit, filed in Florida’s Seventh Judicial Circuit Court, alleges violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the Florida Digital Bill of Rights. It seeks “a permanent injunction, an order requiring Netflix to purge data deceptively collected from Floridians, an end to dark-pattern designs that keep children watching, civil penalties, and other relief authorized by Florida law,” AG Uthmeier said.
“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 lawsuit asserts.
“But 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,” it adds. “Worse yet, Netflix affirmatively misleads parents about how it surveils children by repeatedly representing that it does not engage in behavioral advertising on kids profiles.”
A Netflix spokesperson disputed the AG’s allegations. "Netflix takes our members’ privacy seriously,” the spokesperson 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.”
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