Mich. AG Sues Roku for Violations of Children’s Privacy Law
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) sued Roku, alleging on Tuesday that the streaming TV box maker collects the personal information of minors without parental consent or knowledge, in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. Roku plans to fight back, a spokesperson said.
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“Roku has blatantly violated children’s privacy laws, illegally exposing kids across Michigan to invasive data collection practices,” Nessel said in a press release. “We cannot allow companies to jeopardize the security of our children’s personal information."
Michigan filed the lawsuit at the U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan (case 25-11221). The AG alleges that Roku collects, processes, and discloses the personal information -- including IP addresses, voice recordings and locations -- of children, as well as tracks their browsing histories on Roku and across the internet.
“Roku has designed its platform to ensure that it collects children’s data and that third parties can do the same,” alleged the state. "Unlike its competitors, Roku does not offer parents the option to create children’s profiles. This ensures that parents and children browse the same Roku platform and are subject to the same invasive data collection practices on many parts of the platform."
“Moreover, Roku permits third parties to collect and monetize the personal information of children through its platform,” said Michigan. “Roku’s lax data privacy standards attract children’s content providers, drive traffic to the Roku platform, and increase Roku’s advertising revenue. Finally, Roku enhances this collection and monetization of children’s personal information through partnerships with third-party web trackers and data brokers.”
Roku plans to challenge the claims, a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Roku strongly disagrees with the allegations in today’s filing, which do not reflect how our services work or our efforts to protect viewer privacy."
“Roku respects and values the privacy of our users,” the spokesperson said. “We do not use or disclose children’s personal information for targeted advertising or any other purpose prohibited by law, nor do we partner with third-party web trackers or data brokers to sell children’s personal information. We take the responsibility of creating a safe and trusted online environment seriously.”