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Netflix Sued By Texas For Allegedly Spying On Children
Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times,
Global video streaming service Netflix has been sued by the Texas attorney general’s office for allegedly collecting consumer data from children and adults without their knowledge or consent.
In a May 11 statement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused Netflix of spying on consumers by intentionally tracking and logging their viewing habits, preferences, devices, household networks, and other sensitive behavioral data.
The litigation claims that although the mega-entertainment platform purported to refrain from collecting or sharing user data, it, in fact, recorded and monetized “billions of behavioral events.”
According to Paxton, every consumer interaction became a “data point,” which revealed information about the user, and tracking was then applied to both adults’ and children’s accounts and profiles.
“Netflix has built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans’ personal data without their consent, and my office will do everything in our power to stop it,” Paxton said in the statement.
“Netflix is not the ad-free and kid-friendly platform it claims to be. Instead, it has misled consumers while exploiting their private data to make billions.”
The company argues that the lawsuit lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information.
“Netflix takes our members’ privacy seriously and complies with privacy and data‑protection laws everywhere we operate,” a Netflix spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email statement.
“We look forward to addressing the Texas Attorney General’s allegations in court and further explaining our industry-leading, kid‑friendly parental controls and transparent privacy practices.”
Paxton further accused Netflix of disclosing the collected information to commercial data brokers and advertising tech firms to build detailed consumer profiles.
“Netflix users’ data is essentially shopped across Big Ad Tech’s shadowy network,” the statement reads.
In addition, the lawsuit argues that Netflix designs its platform to be addictive, using features that coax users into following certain actions. It cites the autoplay function, which offers a continuous content stream intended to keep users watching for an extended period.
The litigation described Netflix’s actions as a “behavioral-surveillance program of staggering scale.”
“This program requires getting Texans and their children glued to the screen and then extracting every possible piece of data about them while they are there,” it states.
The end game, the lawsuit claims, is for Netflix to earn even more revenue from harvesting and selling consumer data. It notes that between 2018 and 2026, Netflix’s annual revenue grew from nearly $15 billion to more than $50 billion.
“Netflix’s explosive financial growth reflects a deliberate choice to cash in on the trust it spent years cultivating under false pretenses,” the case states.
It also claims that Netflix provided its users’ data to large commercial brokers such as Experian and Acxion, and partnered with ad-tech platforms including Google Display & Video 360 and The Trade Desk, so that its user data could be merged with information collected off the platform.
The lawsuit intends not only to stop the alleged unlawful collection and disclosure of user data, but also to hold Netflix accountable under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. In addition, the litigation is seeking injunctive relief, civil penalties, and that Netflix be required to disable its autoplay function on children’s profiles.
Paxton is requesting a trial by jury.
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Rate Hikes Are Coming...
Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance
What a week for macroeconomic data. We got two horrific datapoints this week that, when combined with some key comments from days ago, seem to be pushing the Fed closer to rate hikes than they’ve been in a long while.
The case for rate hikes is no longer some fringe tail risk like it felt it was a year ago as inflation numbers (though still high) appeared to be coming down.
For most of last year, markets were operating under a very clean narrative that inflation would continue cooling, growth would gradually slow, and the Federal Reserve would eventually be in position to cut rates further. That framework is starting to crack.
Regardless of whether investors were focused on a potentially more dovish policy direction under figures like Kevin Warsh or Stephen Miran, the Fed ultimately cannot sidestep hard inflation data. If price pressures are clearly reaccelerating, policymakers risk losing massive credibility if they continue signaling easing while inflation moves in the opposite direction.
The market is being forced to confront that reality in real time. And this chart from Charlie Bilello yesterday shows exactly what that reality looks like: inflation got away from the Fed in 2020, and we haven’t been anywhere near close to returning it toward the baseline trend we have tried to revert to. In fact, the chart shows the delta between the 2% baseline target and current inflation as widening.
That pressure intensified today after a major upside surprise in wholesale inflation.
The latest producer price index report showed wholesale prices rose 1.4% in April, nearly triple expectations of 0.5% and well above March’s upwardly revised 0.7% increase. On an annual basis, producer prices climbed 6%, marking the biggest increase since December 2022.
This matters because producer prices often serve as an early warning signal for future consumer inflation. Rising input costs eventually work their way through supply chains and show up in prices paid by households. The bigger issue is that this increasingly looks like something broader than a temporary energy spike. Pipeline inflation is building again at a time when the Fed had been hoping for sustained disinflation.
Meanwhile as CNBC noted earlier in the week that the CPI was also still coming in hotter than expected — which was already hot at 3.8%. Don’t lose sight of the fact that the Fed’s target is 2%, so this is nearly double what the Central Bank is gunning for:
The consumer price index rose at a seasonally adjusted 0.6% for the month, putting the one-year pace at 3.8%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. The monthly rate was as forecast, but the annual rate was 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus.
As CNBC noted, following the hotter consumer inflation report earlier this week, traders sharply reduced expectations for rate cuts and began pricing in the possibility that the Fed’s next move could actually be higher. According to CME FedWatch data cited by CNBC, markets were pricing roughly a 37% probability of a rate hike before year end.
That is a dramatic reversal from the dominant consensus just weeks ago, when the conversation centered almost entirely around when cuts would begin.
What makes this shift even more significant is that Fed officials themselves are no longer trying to shut down the possibility of tighter policy. Austan Goolsbee said last week in an interview with Bloomberg that all options remain on the table and explicitly pushed back on the idea that cuts are the only possible path forward. He said he does not see how anyone can look at current conditions and assume the only conceivable outcome is lower rates.
He also made clear that his concerns extend beyond energy and include broader inflation pressures that could prove more persistent. That is an important signal because central bankers tend to avoid discussing hikes unless they believe the risk is becoming materially more realistic.
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The broader takeaway is that markets may still be underestimating how quickly the macro narrative can shift. The dominant trade had been built around lower inflation, lower rates, and a soft landing. That assumption now faces growing pressure from rising producer prices, elevated inflation expectations, persistent energy shocks, and increasingly hawkish market pricing. If inflation remains hot for another month or two, the conversation may move beyond higher for longer and toward the possibility that the next move from the Federal Reserve is another hike.
That would represent a major regime change for markets that have spent months positioning for the exact opposite outcome.
I’ve been saying for months that the Fed is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and now that reality is getting harder to spin away with carefully worded press conferences and endless “data dependent” talking points. If they raise rates into this inflation reacceleration, they risk detonating the parts of the economy that have only survived because money was essentially free for years. The most speculative and overleveraged corners get hit first. Bitcoin and broader crypto would likely get smoked, subprime auto lending’s implosion accelerates, and the ever growing Private Credit shit officially hits the fan.
But if the Fed backs off because markets throw a tantrum and stocks forget how to go up for three consecutive weeks, they’ll be right back to printing money and flooding the system with liquidity to save everyone from the consequences of their own leverage. And what does more printing solve when inflation is already running hot? Absolutely nothing, except ensuring you get another inflation wave later that’s even harder to contain. That’s the trap. Raise rates and break the economy. Print money and make inflation worse.
Years of kicking the can down the road have left the Fed with two terrible choices, and now the bill is showing up right on schedule. Turns out “we can have permanently elevated asset prices, endless stimulus, and no consequences” was not actually a serious economic strategy. Who would have thought?
Now read:
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- The Coming Gamma Nightmare
- 5 Stocks I'm Still Keeping An Eye On
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QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.
This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. If you see numbers and calculations of any sort, assume they are wrong and double check them. I failed Algebra in 8th grade and topped off my high school math accolades by getting a D- in remedial Calculus my senior year, before becoming an English major in college so I could bullshit my way through things easier.
The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.
Tyler Durden Thu, 05/14/2026 - 07:45
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Europe's Dependence On US LNG Set To Surge
By Irina Slav of OilPrice.com
The European Union’s dependence on liquefied natural gas from the United States is set to rise significantly, reaching 80% of all LNG imports in two years, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis has warned.
In a report cited by Reuters, IEEFA noted that the European Union already imports significant volumes of U.S. liquefied gas, creating a potentially risky dependence on a single supplier.
LNG imports from the United States into the EU accounted for 58% of overall LNG imports.
Yet this dependence is only going to increase in the coming years, the outlet said, recommending more wind, solar, and heat pumps as an alternative.
This year, the United States will become the European Union’s biggest supplier of liquefied gas, even as the bloc also gobbles up every ton of Russian LNG it can buy ahead of the 2027 ban on Russian energy imports.
The motivation for that ban, in addition to punishment for the war in Ukraine, has been to avoid overwhelming dependence on a single energy supplier, which is what the EU is currently doing with the U.S.
Energy commodities are a big part of the trade deal signed last year by President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The deal featured a commitment on the part of the EU to buy $750 billion worth of U.S. energy commodities over a period of three years.
The European Parliament earlier this year signaled it has problems with the deal, which angered the U.S. president, and he threatened to hike tariffs on EU goods unless the bloc signs the deal as is.
The arrangement elevated American LNG, oil, and refined fuels in Europe’s energy supply mix.
The actual supply of so many energy commodities, however, would be physically - and financially - challenging both for the suppliers and the buyers.
Tyler Durden Thu, 05/14/2026 - 07:20