Roku, the smart TV company, has raised the eyebrows of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who alleges the company sold children’s consumer data.
Uthmeier’s Office of Parental Rights is taking action against the tech company in the Collier County Circuit Court. Uthmeier opened that office in April in the interest of “putting our money where out mouth is.”
“We believe that Roku has taken, used, shared, and sold the personal, sensitive data of our consumers, namely, our kids, and that they’ve done so in violation of the Florida Digital Bill of Rights and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act,” Uthmeier said in a video posted to his social media.
Uthmeier said he believes Roku has used and sold data “regarding online preferences and behaviors of kids, videos and images that they might use online, even their location.”
“This is wrong and it violates Florida’s commitment to parental rights,” Uthmeier said.
In a news release, Uthmeier’s office said Roku “collected, sold, and enabled reidentification of sensitive personal data — including viewing habits, voice recordings, and other information from children — without authorization or meaningful notice to Florida families.”
The company didn’t protect parental consent or effectively disclose privacy controls and opt-out tools, the attorney general said.
The AG’s civil enforcement action targets Roku and its Florida subsidiary for violations of the laws mentioned above. He seeks civil penalties, injunctive relief, and measures ensuring Roku provides clearer disclosures and “lawful parental-control mechanisms.”
“Roku knows that some of its users are children but has consciously decided not to implement industry-standard user profiles to identify which of its users are children. Roku buries its head in the sand so that it can continue processing and selling children’s valuable personal and sensitive data,” the attorney general alleges in his 25-page complaint.
Roku forms partnerships with third-party data brokers “in an effort to avoid complying with Florida law,” Uthmeier contends.
One of the data brokers is Kochava, “a data broker with a long history of privacy violations and public scrutiny,” he wrote.
The complaint alleges that Roku does not perform age verification and thus does not comply with the Florida statute, passed in 2023. The Digital Bill of Rights was designed to protect children and others from big tech, the Phoenix reported at the time.
According to Roku’s website, its devices are used by “millions of consumers” and the company cites a 2022 report that found it to be the No. 1 TV streaming platform in United States, Canada, and Mexico by hours streamed.
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Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix
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