Porn site trackers are being used by Google and Facebook to harvest users’ details
GOOGLE, Facebook and other tech companies are tracking visitors to porn sites to harvest their details.
Scientists have found 93 per cent of X-rated websites send data to an average of seven outside firms.
Most user information is gathered via tracking cookies embedded in the adult pages.
A study of 22,484 porn sites found Google had trackers on 74 per cent of them.
Software company Oracle showed up on 24 per cent, while Facebook — which does not allow porn content or even nudity on its platforms — had trackers on ten per cent. It is not known what the companies do with the data but they could use it to build profiles on people’s preferences and send them targeted ads.
Google and Facebook deny they exploit details they collect on porn sites this way. Oracle declined to comment.
Google told the New York Times: “We prohibit personalised advertising based on a user’s sexual interests or related activities online.”
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The study by Microsoft and Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon universities will be published in journal New Media & Society.
Author Elena Maris said: “The mechanism is similar to online retail.
“But this isn’t picking out a sweater and seeing it follow you across the web. This is much more deeply personal.”
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