A complaint against misuse of data by an adult website in Cyprus has become part of a wider investigation into potential data protection offences by the site’s owner.
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Stop Data Porn, an activist group focused on data protection issues related to adult entertainment, had filed a complaint in August 2022 with the Cypriot data protection authority alleging unlawful processing of sensitive personal data, dissemination of sensitive data to unauthorised third parties, and automated profiling of the website’s users based on sexual preferences by Pornhub owner Aylo.
That complaint was not progressed by the data regulator, until it became part of a broader investigation by the data protection authority into Aylo.
Confirmation of the move to include the complaint in the wider Cypriot probe into the Cyprus-based company was received by Stop Data Porn’s lawyers on 21 February.
Speaking to Lexology, Stop Data Porn’s lead attorney Alessandro Polidoro said he expected an outcome from the wider data authority probe “soon” given “the recent progress and the fact the case started two years ago”.
The group has also made a complaint to the Italian data protection regulator on the same grounds against Aylo and says the Italian authority is sharing the complaint file with its Cypriot counterpart.
The Cypriot probe has included a visit to Aylo’s headquarters.
Stop Data Porn says its campaigning is based on “years of research and investigation into Pornhub’s algorithm, conducted by Tracking Exposed since 2019.”
Commenting on today’s news, lead attorney Polidoro said “We have to stop the exploitation of our digital intimacy and make these spaces more safe.”
The NGO’s Cypriot legal counsel Sotiris Pafitis described the news as “very positive”.
The Cypriot regulator and Aylo have been contacted for comment.