Privacy Laws breached by Pornhub

Canada’s Privacy Commissioner has found that Pornhub’s parent company breached privacy laws in a revenge porn complaint.

His investigation stems from complaint from an Ontario woman who was a victim of revenge porn from an ex-boyfriend in 2015. Upon discovery of an intimate video and photos of her online, she reached out to Aylo asking for the content to be removed.

The company did so but did not prevent it from being re-uploaded and further downloaded, the report said. Ultimately, the victim hired a professional takedown service at significant personal cost that removed the revenge porn content over 700 times content from roughly 80 websites.

The Commissioner found the company relies on content uploaders attesting that they had received consent from individuals appearing in the pornographic material instead of verifying directly with the people in the intimate images and videos.

The Decision recommends the company to implement new measures that obtains “express, meaningful and valid consent directly from each individual” who is featured in the porn uploaded to its websites.

The Decision also says the parent company has refused to implement any of his recommendations to date and that he is considering “all available options” of enforcement, including asking the Federal Court to issue an order that the company correct its practices.

Christopher Nardi Ottawa Citizen February 29, 2024