By India McCarty
A Michigan lawsuit alleges Roku has illegally collected children’s personal information without notice or parental consent.
“Roku has blatantly violated children’s privacy laws, illegally exposing kids across Michigan to invasive data collection practices,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement about the suit.
Nessel claims Roku, a popular product that allows users to stream content on their devices, violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), as well as the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.
A statement posted to the Attorney General’s website explained Roku “systematically collects, processes, and discloses the personal information of children, including their locations, voice recordings, IP addresses, and persistent identifiers that track children’s browsing histories on Roku and across the internet.”
The suit also alleges Roku allows third-party channels to collect children’s personal information in an effort to bring content providers to the platform and increase ad revenue, as well as misleads parents about its collection of children’s personal information and their rights to protect that information.
“We cannot allow companies to jeopardize the security of our children’s personal information,” Nessel continued. “My office remains committed to holding accountable companies that violate the rights of Michigan families and seek to profit at the expense of children’s safety and privacy.”
Roku has blatantly violated children’s privacy laws, illegally exposing kids across Michigan to invasive data collection practices. We cannot allow companies to jeopardize the security of our children’s personal information.https://t.co/tlCVXHAUPm
— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) April 30, 2025
Roku responded to Nessel’s claims, stating they “strongly disagree with the allegations…which do not reflect how our services work or our efforts to protect viewer privacy.”
“We plan to challenge these inaccurate claims and look forward to demonstrating our commitment to trust and compliance,” the company’s statement continued. “Roku respects and values the privacy of our users. 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.”
The company added that they “take the responsibility of creating a safe and trusted online environment seriously” and “take pride in connecting our viewers to the streaming content they love every day.”
The Michigan Attorney General’s lawsuit seeks “to stop Roku’s alleged illegal data collection and disclosure practices, to require Roku to comply with federal and state law, and to recover damages, restitution, and civil penalties for Roku’s years of alleged misconduct.”
This allegation against Roku is the latest move by government officials to regulate the ways websites collect and share user data. Hopefully, it will lead to more transparent practices, especially when it comes to children’s personal information.
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