Roku accused of selling children’s data to advertisers and brokers

The article reports that the state of Florida has accused Roku, which powers many smart TVs and streaming devices, of selling children’s data to third parties without parental consent. According to the Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Roku collected viewing habits, voice recordings and precise geolocation from kids without parental approval and made the data available to advertisers and data brokers, including Kochava.

Florida has filed the lawsuit under the Florida Digital Bill of Rights, which came into effect on 1 July 2024, with penalties of up to $50,000 per violation that tripled for violations involving a known child. The AG’s office says Roku reaches around 145 million people across half of US households and that some data was sold even though Roku claimed to provide parental controls and opt-out tools.

The complaint notes that while Roku sells deidentified data to brokers, brokers such as Kochava can still reidentify users using information like device IDs.