A new study has claimed that major technology companies like Google and Facebook are tracking users who visit porn websites, including even those who do so in incognito mode.
The study was conducted by Microsoft Research’s Elena Maris, Timothy Libert from Carnegie Mellon University, and Jennifer Henrichsen from the University of Pennsylvania.
They cited “the implications of widespread sexual data leakage" as well as “tracking and privacy risks” on at least 22,484 pornography websites the study scanned.
According to the survey, Google had trackers on 74 percent of these sex websites, while the software company Oracle and Facebook, which by the way bans any porn content on any of its platforms, are tracking 24 percent and 10 percent of the websites, respectively.
The study also claimed that it remains unclear where personal browsing details could finally go and that only 17 percent of the sex websites were encrypted, which means that user data could be compromised by hackers.
A Google spokeswoman has, meanwhile, noted in a written statement that the company does not “allow Google Ads on websites with adult content” and that it prohibits “personalised advertising and advertising profiles based on a user’s sexual interests or related activities online”.
The statement was echoed by a Facebook spokesman who referred to the company’s community guidelines which bar porn websites from using Facebook tracking tools for advertising. Oracle has yet to comment on the issue.
The study comes after Facebook announced in March that it plans to introduce a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) detection tool that will remove so-called "revenge porn" - the distribution of sexually indecent images or videos of an individual without their consent or knowledge - before it has even been reported,
The move has been touted as the social media giant’s latest effort to scrap what Facebook deems as malicious and abusive content.
