On May 11, 2026, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Netflix. The suit accuses the streaming company of secretly collecting personal data from its users, including children, without their knowledge or permission. The case was filed in Collin County, Texas, and runs 59 pages long.
Paxton says Netflix violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. His office is asking a court to force Netflix to delete the data it illegally collected, stop using that data for targeted advertising, and pay civil fines of up to $10,000 per violation.
Also Read: 59% of Gen Z subscribe for one show, then cancel: Platform loyalty is collapsing, study finds
What Netflix allegedly did
The core of the lawsuit is simple. Texas claims Netflix told its users one thing and did another.
For years, Netflix said publicly that it did not collect or share user data. According to the lawsuit, that was not true. Behind the scenes, Texas alleges, Netflix was tracking and recording what users watched, what they searched for, what devices they used, what home networks they connected from, and how they interacted with the app.
Every click and every pause reportedly became a data point.
The lawsuit says Netflix then took this data and shared it with commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies. These companies combined Netflix’s data with information gathered from other platforms to build detailed profiles of individual users. Texas claims Netflix made billions of dollars a year from this practice.
Netflix’s own words used against it
A big part of the case rests on statements made by Netflix’s co-founder and former CEO Reed Hastings. The lawsuit opens by quoting a 2019 statement where Hastings said the company is focused on keeping members happy and is not involved in the advertising controversy. In 2020, he reportedly said the company does not integrate user data and added “we don’t collect anything.”
Texas argues Hastings made these statements to keep Netflix out of the same public fights that companies like Meta and Apple were having at the time over data privacy. Paxton’s office says those statements were false and that Netflix was already running a large-scale data collection operation in the background.
The lawsuit also points to the fact that Netflix, for years, told subscribers it would never run ads. In late 2022, the company launched an ad-supported subscription plan. Texas says this flip, combined with the secret data collection, shows a pattern of misleading consumers.
Children’s data
One of the most serious parts of the lawsuit involves children. Texas claims Netflix collected behavioral data from kids’ profiles just as it did from adult accounts. The company marketed its kids’ section as a safe space for children, but the lawsuit says data tracking happened there too.
The complaint says this data, gathered from children’s viewing habits, preferences, and interactions, was also fed into the same data-sharing pipeline as adult user data. Parents who set up kids’ profiles likely had no idea this was happening, according to the lawsuit.
The “addictive design” claim
The lawsuit does not just focus on data. It also accuses Netflix of building its platform to be addictive on purpose.
The main example cited is Netflix’s autoplay feature. When one episode or film ends, the next one starts automatically. Texas says this feature was designed to keep users, including children, watching for as long as possible, generating more data points for Netflix to collect and sell.
The lawsuit calls these tactics “dark patterns” or design choices that push users toward actions that benefit company rather than user. It claims Netflix used subtle engineering tricks across the platform to manipulate users into watching more.
It is worth noting that autoplay is a common feature on other streaming services too, including Disney+ and HBO Max. Netflix is not alone in using it, but the Texas lawsuit singles Netflix out because of the alleged data collection tied to it.
Netflix’s response
Netflix pushed back quickly. A company spokesperson said the lawsuit has no merit and is based on information that is wrong and distorted. The company said it takes user privacy seriously and follows privacy and data protection laws in every country where it operates.
Netflix also defended its parental controls and said it has transparent privacy practices. The company said it looks forward to making its case in court.
Netflix has more than 325 million subscribers worldwide.
The bigger picture
This lawsuit is part of wide trend. Many large technology companies are facing legal action over how they collect and use personal data. Social media companies like Meta have faced similar accusations for years. Governments and attorneys general across the United States have been filing more cases against tech companies that they believe are misleading users about privacy.
Texas has been active in this space. Paxton has filed similar cases against other tech companies in the past. He is also currently running for a US Senate seat, challenging incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn.