Roku in Data Scandal: Are They Secretly Siphoning Our Viewing Habits?
Alarm bells are ringing for series junkies and anime fans! The popular streaming service Roku is reportedly neck-deep in a mega-scandal. The tough-as-nails Attorney General Dana Nessel of Michigan has declared war on the company and filed a hefty lawsuit.
The accusation: Roku is not only allegedly secretly spying on children, but also selling masses of data from its adult users to shady third parties!
Child Spyware? Roku Under Fire for Illegal Data Collection!
Nessel accuses Roku of violating strict laws such as the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA”) to protect our youngest. The charge: Roku is allegedly an app that specifically targets children but shamelessly scoops up their data – without parental permission! Spicy: Although Roku allegedly doesn’t have individual user profiles, the streaming giant is said to know exactly who is watching – even those under 13!
And it gets worse: Roku is allegedly in cahoots with data sharks like Kochava. They can allegedly pick apart entire families and track their buying behavior. This allows advertising corporations to target very precisely – even our kids! Nessel is furious: "A Roku advertiser can better determine when a user who has seen a particular ad made a purchase as a result of that ad."
No Profiles, No Scruples?
Nessel accuses Roku of deliberately looking the other way because there are no separate user profiles. Thus, the company allegedly can’t distinguish who is sitting in front of the TV. But that's nonsense! Roku is allegedly working with data kraken like Kochava, who dissect households and track the surfing and buying behavior of each individual – all the way to pinpointing their location! This allows advertisers to see exactly who bought something after seeing a particular ad.
Each individual violation of the law carries hefty penalties of up to $2,500! And that's not all: Roku also allegedly lied to its customers about the possibility of objecting to the data collection. Each of these fraud cases could incur additional penalties of $25,000. Given the "millions of households in Michigan" that use Roku, the damage claim could reach astronomical heights! Nessel even wants to strip Roku of its illegal profits.
Rip-off with Children's Data?
Roku is like a gigantic melting pot for streaming services like Netflix, Crunchyroll, Paramount+ and many more. But are you paying with your privacy here? Even Roku's free, ad-supported channel with anime smash hits like Naruto and blockbusters like John Wick 4 is now suspected of scraping data. Recently, there was a similar scandal surrounding Genshin Impact maker HoYoverse.
The prosecutor even suspects a perfidious calculation behind it. Roku is allegedly turning a blind eye to advertising for children because making money with older target groups is more lucrative. Outrageous: Roku rakes in a whopping 30 percent of the advertising revenue on third-party channels and keeps all the revenue from its own advertising. A study shows: Hundreds of channels on Roku allegedly offer content for children and sell their data to advertising companies.
Names, Addresses, Viewing Habits – All Gone?
But that's not all! Roku is also alleged to have passed on sensitive data from users in Michigan to third parties – including giants like Google and Meta. What all was scraped? URLs of the videos watched, names, addresses, location data and email addresses! This could create transparent profiles that expose the online identity of each individual.
Heavy fines are looming! Each individual violation of the "Video Privacy Protection Act" could incur a penalty of $2,500. And because Roku is also alleged to have lied to its customers about the opt-out options for data collection, additional penalties of $25,000 per case are looming. Given the "millions of households" in Michigan that use Roku, an astronomical sum could come together. Nessel even wants Roku to cough up all the profits from the illegal machinations!
Roku itself pleads ignorance. But the case shows once again: Beware of the smart TV! Who knows who else is watching and what data is flowing away in the background. German users should now take a close look to see if their data is also in danger!
Conclusion
What the heck is going on here? Are we secretly being spied on during a cozy series evening? The Roku case could trigger an earthquake in the streaming world and force us all to take a closer look at who we entrust our data to.