Roku settles Florida lawsuit over children’s data privacy claims

Roku children’s privacy lawsuit overview:

• Who: Roku Inc. reached a settlement with the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
• Why: Florida alleged Roku illegally collected and sold children’s personal information without parental consent.
• Where: The Roku lawsuit was filed in Florida state court.

Roku agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Florida Attorney General’s Office alleging the streaming platform unlawfully collected and sold children’s personal information in violation of state privacy laws.

Under the agreement, Roku will spend an estimated $25 million to develop and implement enhanced parental controls and child privacy protections. According to the parties, the new safeguards will begin rolling out immediately and are expected to be available nationwide to Roku users within the next 12 months.

The settlement resolves claims brought under the Florida Digital Bill of Rights. The agreement does not include any admission or finding of wrongdoing and does not require Roku to pay civil penalties.

“This resolution ensures that meaningful safeguards will be implemented to protect the privacy and personal data for all children,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a statement, as reported by Law360.

Roku also welcomed the agreement, stating that protecting children’s privacy and giving parents greater control over their families’ streaming experience are company priorities.

The parties said they reached the agreement voluntarily after working together throughout the litigation to establish a framework for compliance with Florida law.

Florida alleged Roku collected, sold children’s personal information

Florida filed the lawsuit in October, alleging Roku violated the Florida Digital Bill of Rights and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

According to the complaint, Roku collected, processed and sold children’s personal information without obtaining parental consent or providing adequate notice to families.

The state also alleged Roku collected information, including children’s viewing habits, voice recordings and other sensitive personal data while failing to implement industry-standard methods for identifying child users.

In addition, Florida claimed Roku shared user information with third-party data brokers that could allegedly reidentify users from data the company represented as deidentified.

Before reaching the settlement, the attorney general had sought civil penalties of up to $150,000 for each alleged violation of the Florida Digital Bill of Rights and up to $10,000 for each alleged violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

What do you think about Florida’s settlement with Roku? Let us know in the comments.

The state is represented by James Uthmeier of the Florida Attorney General’s Office and Thomas R. Grady of GradyLaw.

The Roku children’s privacy lawsuit is Office of the Attorney General, State of Florida, Department of Legal Affairs v. Roku Inc., et al., in the 20th Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Florida.

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