The main Sling TV lawsuit a subscriber is likely searching for is the California Attorney General’s privacy enforcement action, which ended in a $530,000 settlement on October 30, 2025 and required the company to rebuild how customers opt out of data selling. Sling TV has also been the target of a federal class action and a wave of individual arbitration claims alleging it secretly shared viewing histories with Facebook, and its parent company is preparing a possible bankruptcy that could affect how any of this plays out.
The California Attorney General Settlement
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the settlement with Sling TV LLC and Dish Media Sales LLC on October 30, 2025. It resolved allegations that the companies violated the California Consumer Privacy Act and the state’s Unfair Competition Law, and it was the first enforcement action to come out of a January 2024 sweep of streaming services and connected TV devices.1California Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Bonta Secures $530,000 Settlement With Sling TV
The $530,000 in civil penalties is paid in two halves: $265,000 within 30 days of the judgment and another $265,000 within a year.2California Office of the Attorney General. Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction, People v. Sling TV The stipulated judgment was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court as Case No. 25STCV31561. Sling TV did not admit wrongdoing.
What the State Said Sling TV Did Wrong
The complaint centered on how hard Sling TV made it to stop the company from selling or sharing personal information. Three design choices were called out:
- The “Your Privacy Choices” link led to a cookie-preferences page, not a real CCPA opt-out. Changing cookie settings did not stop Sling from selling or sharing personal data through other channels.3California Office of the Attorney General. Complaint for Injunction, Civil Penalties, and Other Equitable Relief
- The actual opt-out webform sat behind an unlabeled icon. Even users who were logged in had to re-enter their name, address, phone number, and email, then get past a confirmation screen the state described as discouraging.3California Office of the Attorney General. Complaint for Injunction, Civil Penalties, and Other Equitable Relief
- There was no way to opt out from inside the Sling app on Roku, Apple TV, or gaming consoles. Customers had to switch to another device, open a browser, and type in a 55-character URL that only changed cookie settings.3California Office of the Attorney General. Complaint for Injunction, Civil Penalties, and Other Equitable Relief
The Attorney General called these “dark patterns” — designs that gave the appearance of privacy control without the substance.
What California Subscribers Should See Change
The judgment requires Sling TV to fix all three problems within 180 days of the effective date. The opt-out link must actually stop data selling and sharing, not just cookies. Logged-in users can no longer be forced to re-enter information Sling already has. And the company has to build opt-out controls directly into its apps on living-room devices, using tools like on-screen QR codes where a full toggle isn’t practical.1California Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Bonta Secures $530,000 Settlement With Sling TV
For three years after the compliance deadline, Sling TV has to file annual reports with the Attorney General’s office showing how these systems are working.2California Office of the Attorney General. Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction, People v. Sling TV
What Parents Need to Know
A separate piece of the complaint dealt with children. The state said Sling TV offered child-directed content but did not screen users by age, did not let parents create a restricted profile, and did not get the opt-in consent the CCPA requires before selling or sharing the data of anyone under 16. Even when parental controls were on or a child was clearly watching, the state alleged, targeted advertising and data collection continued.3California Office of the Attorney General. Complaint for Injunction, Civil Penalties, and Other Equitable Relief
Under the settlement, parents can now designate a profile as a “kid’s profile” that defaults to no data selling, no data sharing, and no targeted advertising. Sling TV must also delete personal information it has already collected from users it knows to be minors, and must review its channel lineup each year to flag child-directed programming. At least 43 channels are designated for restricted advertising treatment under the judgment.2California Office of the Attorney General. Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction, People v. Sling TV
The Facebook Pixel Case
On July 19, 2024, a proposed class action called Arias v. Sling TV, LLC was filed in the Southern District of New York.4Bloomberg Law. Sling TV Shared Personal Data of Millions of Users, Suit Says The complaint alleges that Sling TV used the Facebook pixel and several software development kits to send subscribers’ complete video viewing histories, tagged with their Facebook IDs, to Meta without telling them and without their consent. The suit invokes the Video Privacy Protection Act, a 1988 federal law that bars video providers from disclosing viewing records without written consent.5ClassAction.org. Sling Discloses Subscriber Data to Facebook Without Consent, Class Action Lawsuit Claims
The proposed class covers U.S. consumers who logged into Sling TV and watched prerecorded content through a phone or computer browser within the statute-of-limitations window.
The Arbitration Track
Sling TV’s terms of service include an arbitration clause, so the law firms Labaton Keller Sucharow and Bursor & Fisher pursued the same VPPA theory through individual arbitration claims rather than the class case. The VPPA allows damages up to $2,500 per violation. That mass-arbitration effort was closed to new participants as of mid-2025, so subscribers coming to this now generally cannot sign up.6Labaton Keller Sucharow. Sling TV
Patent Disputes Are a Separate Matter
Sling TV has also been sued over streaming technology patents — by Quantum Technology Innovations in June 20247Bloomberg Law. Dish Network’s Sling TV Infringes Patent, New Suit Says and by Adeia Technologies in late March 2026 over nine patents covering DVR, content delivery, and streaming playback features.8Law360. Dish and Sling TV Infringe Pay-TV Media IP, Adeia Claims These are commercial disputes between companies and do not offer any recovery to subscribers.
The Bankruptcy Wrinkle
Sling TV is a brand of Dish DBS Corporation, a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. In March 2026, EchoStar, Dish Network, and Dish DBS signed a Restructuring Support Agreement with creditors contemplating either an out-of-court restructuring or a Chapter 11 filing.9EchoStar. Restructuring Support Agreement By late June 2026, reporting indicated Dish DBS was actively preparing to file Chapter 11.10The Desk. Dish Network Pay-TV Company Prepares Bankruptcy Filing How a bankruptcy would affect Sling TV’s compliance obligations under the California judgment, or the pending VPPA claims, is not yet clear.
What to Do as a Subscriber
If you are in California, look for the new in-app opt-out controls and the “kid’s profile” option once the 180-day compliance window has run, and use them if privacy matters to you. If you believe your viewing history was shared with Facebook and you were considering the VPPA arbitration route, the organized mass-arbitration intake has closed, though the underlying class action remains pending. Watch the bankruptcy docket if you are relying on the settlement’s long-term monitoring requirements — a Chapter 11 proceeding could reshape how those obligations are enforced.