Florida sues Netflix, alleges streamer tracked children after promising families privacy

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a 66-page lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the streaming company of misleading subscribers and violating consumer privacy laws. The state alleges that Netflix deceptively collected extensive behavioral data, including tracking data from children's profiles, while publicly advertising an ad-free and privacy-focused environment. According to the complaint, Netflix secretly harvested user engagement metrics—such as viewing history, pauses, skips, searches, and device details—to build out the ad-supported subscription tier launched in November 2022. The lawsuit argues that Netflix breached the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act as well as the Florida Digital Bill of Rights. Florida is seeking court injunctions to halt these practices, purge historical subscriber data and data collected via Kids Profiles, ban specific engagement designs labeled as 'dark patterns' (like default autoplay), and impose civil penalties. This escalating legal challenge highlights mounting regulatory risks and potential compliance costs for Netflix's expanding ad-tier business model.