Tales from the Porn: A Comprehensive Privacy Analysis of the Web Porn Ecosystem Pelayo Vallina Álvaro Feal Julien Gamba IMDEA Networks Institute / IMDEA Networks Institute / IMDEA Networks Institute / Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Narseo Vallina-Rodriguez Antonio Fernández Anta IMDEA Networks Institute / ICSI IMDEA Networks Institute
[email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT 1 INTRODUCTION Modern privacy regulations, including the General Data Protec- Pornographic (porn) websites are among the most visited and lucra- tion Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union, aim to control tive online services since the early days of the World Wide Web [91]. user tracking activities in websites and mobile applications. These Pornhub, the most visited porn website according to Alexa’s domain privacy rules typically contain specific provisions and strict require- rank [4], had 33:5 Billion visits and was returned in 30:3 Billion ments for websites that provide sensitive material to end users such web searches in 2018 [72]. MindGeek, Pornhubs’ parent company, as sexual, religious, and health services. However, little is known has reported over half a billion dollars of revenue in the 2015 fiscal about the privacy risks that users face when visiting such websites, year [56]. and about their regulatory compliance. In this paper, we present Modern privacy regulations like the EU General Data Protection the first comprehensive and large-scale analysis of 6,843 porno- Regulation (GDPR) [32] and California’s Consumer Privacy Act graphic websites.