LOS ANGELES—Aylo, the parent company of tube site Pornhub, is fighting off yet another lawsuit in a California federal district court. This time, Aylo is accused in a class action lawsuit of unlawfully sharing users' data, like video viewing history, with Google to help targeted advertising.
Aylo's subsidiaries in the U.S., Cyprus and Canada, including Aylo Freesites which manages Pornhub, were all named as defendants.
Co-counsel from three law firms—Phillips, Erlewine, Given & Carlin LLP; Clarkson Law Firm; and Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP—say that a class of plaintiffs led by a "Jane Doe" were the targets of unlawful data sharing and violations of federal laws like the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA).
VPPA was adopted by Congress during the administration of President Ronald Reagan to prohibit video rental businesses from sharing their customer data with third parties without the consent of their customers.
Present-day litigation features the law's protections being applied to online video streaming services used by millions of daily users (e.g., Netflix).
Pornhub, as a tube site, would qualify as an online video streaming service, counsel for the plaintiffs argue. In the initial complaint filed before U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi of the Central District of California, the plaintiffs allege damages from non-consensual data sharing.
"[Pornhub] harvests and monetizes vast amounts of user data that it shares with advertisers and other companies," reads the complaint. These other companies include Google, the search engine and technology giant owned by Alphabet. While Google or its affiliates weren't named in the complaint, the plaintiffs call into question the legal intricacies of data harvesting and privacy rights for users in the United States and abroad.
According to the complaint, Pornhub acted improperly by suggesting that data collected from its users is anonymized when it is shared with Google Analytics, a browser-based online analytics service used by thousands of online platforms in the adult and mainstream industries.
It is the argument of the plaintiffs that Pornhub falsely says that user data is anonymized when transferred to the Google Analytics instance used by the Pornhub digital marketing and web traffic teams. A review of Pornhub's terms and conditions and its various disclosures to consumers indicates what the company does with user data, including the use of third-party software that helps with managing the popular adult platform.
Google Analytics offers the ability to anonymize data such as an IP address. When the setting is enabled, the last eight characters of a particular IP address are anonymized and the software will not store a full IP address.
"Google will use the information only to provide Google Analytics services to us and will not use this information for other purposes," reads the third-party cookies disclaimer on Pornhub.com. In that disclosure, the tube site also confirms that anonymization is enabled for its users.
"This case seeks to ensure that well-established privacy principles are not undercut by Aylo’s conduct,” explained attorney Glenn A. Danas via Law.com's coverage of the class action complaint. Danas is a Clarkson Law Firm partner out of its Malibu office.
The complaint goes on to allege: "Pornhub discloses that it shares data with Google in the same document that seeks to obtain user consent to other data collection." This "data collection" is a standard digital marketing practice in the United States digital space.
Additionally, the terms and conditions formulated for acceptable use on Pornhub serve as an agreement between the user and the platform. Part of those terms also institutes a waiver of rights for U.S.-based users as it relates to arbitration for supposed disputes of the terms and services.
"Users located in the United States of America will resolve any disputes between us through binding and final arbitration instead of through court proceedings," states Pornhub's terms of service. This arbitration for U.S.-based users must be with the American Arbitration Association (AAA).
"Jane Doe" initiated an arbitration through the AAA in June 2023, according to the complaint.
The complaint additionally alleges, "Aylo has waived its right to arbitrate in accordance with its terms of service for Pornhub." The plaintiffs point to Aylo's supposed failure to pay the arbitration fees as required under the terms and services of the platform.
A spokesperson for Aylo declined to comment on this case citing that the company doesn't comment on ongoing litigation. "We look forward to the facts being fully and fairly aired in that forum," the spokesperson told AVN.
Adult industry attorney Corey Silverstein, managing partner of Silverstein Legal, believes this class action complaint will fail in federal court.
"The United States judicial system is far from perfect and anyone can file a lawsuit against anybody they wish," Silverstein told AVN. "In reviewing the allegations in the complaint, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Defendants filing an immediate motion to dismiss."
Aylo is also fighting data privacy litigation in the European Union. Alessandro Polidoro, an Italian attorney, filed complaints with data regulators at the European Commission and with member states.
Per AVN's reporting on the matter, Polidoro said complaints have been filed against Pornhub, the site’s ownership group, and other entities tied to the mega tube site through its European base in Cyprus.
