Netflix Collects 5 Petabytes of User Data Every Day. It Told Parents It Didn’t Track Kids. Texas Says That’s a Lie.

• 5 petabytes of user-behavior logs collected per day — including children's viewing data — TX AG complaint
• 10M+ behavioral events processed per second inside Netflix's surveillance infrastructure — TX AG complaint
• Experian, Acxiom among the commercial data brokers Netflix disclosed user data to, per the lawsuit — TX AG complaint
• Filed May 11, 2026 in Collin County, TX — Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act violations alleged — TX AG office

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit against Netflix on May 11, 2026, accusing the streaming giant of operating a mass surveillance operation — collecting five petabytes of user behavioral data per day, tracking children despite public promises not to, and selling that data to commercial brokers including Experian and Acxiom.

Netflix says the suit is meritless. The Texas AG's complaint says otherwise — and it cites Netflix's own technical documentation against it.

The lawsuit's core allegation is not just that Netflix collects user data — every streaming platform does — but that Netflix built what Paxton calls "surveillance machinery" that processes more than 10 million behavioral events per second, generating five petabytes of log data every day. That data covers viewing habits, device identifiers, household network information, application usage patterns, and other behavioral signals.

Netflix then disclosed this data to commercial brokers — Experian, Acxiom, and others — without adequate user consent, the complaint alleges. This is the data broker economy operating inside the living room of every American with a Netflix account.

Beyond data collection, Paxton's suit takes aim at Netflix's product design itself. The complaint alleges Netflix deliberately engineers its platform to be addictive — specifically through autoplay, algorithmic recommendation loops, and design choices that promote compulsive viewing — particularly on profiles used by minors.

This is the same legal theory being deployed against social media companies in multiple state courts. It positions Netflix's UX choices not as neutral product features but as deliberately harmful design decisions targeting children, which triggers consumer-protection liability under Texas law.

“Netflix operates surveillance machinery that currently collects roughly 5 petabytes of user-behavior logs per day while processing more than 10 million events per second.”

Texas AG complaint, filed May 11, 2026 — Collin County, Texas

Netflix issued a statement calling the lawsuit "meritless and based on inaccurate and distorted information." The company said it takes member privacy seriously and complies with privacy and data-protection laws everywhere it operates.

That response is the standard corporate denial. What Netflix has not yet done is contest the specific technical claims in the complaint — the five petabytes, the 10 million events per second, the broker relationships with Experian and Acxiom. Those figures appear to come from Netflix's own internal documentation and technical disclosures. If they're wrong, Netflix's lawyers will make that argument in court.

The Netflix suit fits into a national wave of state-level consumer-protection enforcement against Big Tech data practices. Texas has already filed similar suits against Meta (biometric data), Google (location tracking), and TikTok (children's data). The legal theory — that data collection and product design that harms children violates consumer-protection statutes — is gaining traction in courts.

Paxton is seeking injunctive relief, civil penalties, and an order requiring Netflix to restructure its data practices. The case was filed in Collin County, Texas — Paxton's home jurisdiction — under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.