Facebook and Google have implemented tracking software on most of the popular porn sites.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pennsylvania and Microsoft analyzed 22,484 adult sites and found that 93% of them pass user data to third parties (advertising companies and web analytics providers). Moreover, the private mode does not help to preserve confidentiality in any way. In addition, about 45% of the domains analyzed by the experts revealed the potential sexual preferences of users through the URL.
Several major tech companies, including Facebook and Google, have implemented tracking code on most of the popular porn sites, according to the study. It is also worrying that most often the policy of such resources does not warn users about online trackers.
Thus, those who visit adult sites, even in private browsing mode, have a "deceptive sense of privacy," the document notes. "It is a great risk for users when such personal information is available without their consent, and therefore could potentially be used against them," the experts say.
Despite the fact that Google trackers were found on 74% of adult sites, the company denies using user information for advertising purposes. According to Google, Google Ads does not work on porn sites, so there is no need to worry about personalized ads based on users' sexual preferences. Representatives of the company Facebook, whose trackers have been implemented on 10% of sites "for adults", also deny that users are being tracked.
According to the researchers, 93% of sites shared data with third parties, 79% were discovered by third-party cookies (most commonly used for tracking) and only 17% of sites were encrypted. In total, experts identified 230 companies tracking users, including Oracle, whose trackers were found on 24% of sites.
Such trackers are almost impossible to identify without special software. Only 17% of adult sites warned of surveillance, but those warnings were veiled in confusing legal language.
To protect against surveillance, the researchers recommend that users install ad blockers or similar technology to ensure privacy while browsing the Internet. The private browsing mode will not help to avoid tracking, but only to get rid of traces in the local browser history.
