Pornhub accused of abusing user data

In the midst of an American moral panic about explicit content, lawmakers have started passing age-verification laws around sites like Pornhub. The tube site has responded by blocking access in Utah, one state that passed such a law. Now, Pornhub faces separate, privacy-based legal challenges from across the pond. 

Activists from the collective #StopDataPorn filed a GDPR complaint in Italy today, accusing Pornhub of illegally processing personal data and sharing it with unidentified third-parties.

According to a press release from #StopDataPorn, Pornhub:

• Doesn't ask for consent when processing personal user data. Given that this data is related to people's sexual preferences and orientation, #StopDataPorn says it violates article 9 of GDPR.

• Shares personal user information with an unknown number of third parties, both external and within the MindGeek network. "This undeclared dissemination of personal information constitutes an unlawful processing of data that is forbidden by the GDPR," says #StopDataPorn

• Feeds personal data to a recommender system "that unilaterally assigns sexual preferences to each individual without their knowledge and not allowing anybody to contest this result." This is unlawful profiling, #StopDataPorn claims.

Researchers from the digital rights group Tracking Exposed (now called AI Forensics) and the pornhub.tracking.exposed browser extension have gathered evidence for the complaint. Analysis was conducted through scraping (extracting data from a website), explained Tracking Exposed founder Claudio Agosti in the press release. "We analyzed Pornhub since its abusive and influential recommendation algorithm has never been properly scrutinized, despite being one of the most popular website[s] on the internet."

A preliminary report was sent to the Italian data protection authority in March 2022, and another complaint has been filed in Cyprus as well, where Pornhub is legally based in Europe. 

Pornhub and platforms like it are hoarding information about sexual orientation and people's intimate secrets and kinks, said lead attorney of the litigation and digital rights activist, Alessandro Polidoro, in the release. 

"It is mandatory to put this massive processing of sensitive data into compliance with data protection law," he continued. "Why are we letting porn platforms harvest personal data without even asking for consent?!"

"We will respond through the appropriate process in time, and note that it is our practice not to comment on ongoing litigation," MindGeek told Mashable. "MindGeek is committed to protecting user privacy, and is continuously implementing measures to safeguard the personal data of everyone in its community."