Florida attorney general sues Netflix over ‘bait-and-switch’ on privacy for kids

Florida’s attorney general filed a sweeping lawsuit Wednesday against Netflix, accusing the Hollywood streaming giant of misleading consumers about its data collection practices and exposing kids to “addictive” design features.

“Netflix told Florida families they could pay a monthly fee to escape Big Tech surveillance. That was false,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a statement accompanying the filing .

“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,” Uthmeier added in part.

In response to a request for comment Thursday, a Netflix spokesperson said the company “takes our members’ privacy seriously.”

“We comply with privacy and data‑protection laws everywhere we operate and have dedicated safeguards in place for kids who watch content on Netflix,” the spokesperson added. “This lawsuit lacks merit and we intend to vigorously defend the matter in court.”

Uthmeier’s suit opens another front in Florida’s legal crusade against major technology platforms. Uthmeier’s office filed suit against OpenAI in early June, accusing the artificial intelligence company of putting profit over safety . The same month, the state sued TikTok, claiming the social media application violated state child safety law.

In the 66-page suit against Netflix, Florida alleges it orchestrated a “years-long bait-and-switch.” Uthmeier’s office claims Netflix spent years marketing its subscription service as an ad-free alternative to the data-driven business models of Silicon Valley behemoths like Google and Facebook, all while assuring parents that the platform’s kids profiles were “safe.”

However, according to the Florida plaintiffs, Netflix was designing systems to collect information about how users interacted with the platform, including what they watched, clicked, paused, replayed and skipped. The state alleges Netflix used the “addictive” autoplay feature to keep adult and child users watching while logging “billions” of behavioral data points.

The streaming service introduced an ad-supported plan in November 2022 as part of a wider push to drive revenue amid slowing subscriber growth. The platform currently offers two ad-free plans, Standard and Premium, as well as a lower-priced Standard with ads plan.

“Netflix’s years-long bait-and-switch has led the company right to where it promised never to be: addicting children and families to its platform, mining those users for data, and then converting that data into lucrative intelligence for global advertising juggernauts,” Florida says in the complaint. “This is deceptive conduct that violates Florida law.”

Netflix shares a privacy statement and terms of use with members annually, according to the platform. The documents provide explanations of the company’s advertising and privacy practices, as well as members’ rights and controls. Netflix subscribers can manage their advertising preferences and turn off behavioral ads at any time, according to the service.

The service also offers parental controls that allow parents to filter content by maturity rating or block specific programming. Members can disable autoplay for episodes and trailers at any time, while parents have control over autoplay features on kids’ profiles, according to Netflix.

Florida’s suit comes four months after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed his own complaint against Netflix , accusing the platform of “spying on” people in his state, including children, and collecting user data without consent.

“Netflix is not the ad-free and kid-friendly platform it claims to be. Instead, it has misled consumers while exploiting their private data to make billions,” said Paxton, also the state’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate.

In a statement at the time, a Netflix spokesperson said the lawsuit “lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information.”

Florida is demanding a jury trial on its allegation that Netflix is violating the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the state’s Digital Bill of Rights. It is seeking a court ruling that would, among other things, order Netflix to “purge all data deceptively collected from Floridians.”

Uthmeier, a Republican who took office in February 2025, previously served as chief of staff to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis appointed Uthmeier to replace former state attorney general Ashley Moody, who resigned as attorney general to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.