STORY: Netflix was sued Monday by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for allegedly collecting data on children and other consumers without consent and designing its platform to be addictive.
Texas said that for years the streaming giant has falsely represented to consumers that it did not collect or share user data.
But it said the company actually tracked and sold viewers' habits and preferences, making billions of dollars a year.
Netflix was also accused of quietly using "dark patterns" to keep users watching, including an autoplay feature.
The complaint said that the firm's endgame is to "get children and families glued to the screen, harvest their data while they are stuck there, and then monetize the data for a handsome profit."
Paxton wants the company to purge data it collected illegally, not use the data for targeted advertising without users' consent, and pay civil fines of up to $10,000 per violation.
A Netflix spokesperson said the lawsuit "lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information,"
adding the company complies with privacy and data protection laws everywhere it operates.
