Canada Privacy Commissioner Sues Aylo for Privacy Law Violations

OTTAWA—Philippe Dufresne, the privacy commissioner of Canada, announced on Monday that he has applied for a court order against Aylo in a local federal court. He is asking that the Montreal-based parent company of adult tube site Pornhub be compelled to comply with national privacy laws for consumers. The application comes about a year after Dufresne concluded an investigation that found Aylo had violated the country's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). AVN previously reported on the findings of the report. “To date, Aylo has not adequately addressed the significant concerns that were identified in my investigation,” Dufresne said in a statement published on Monday. He added, “Privacy is a fundamental right, and individuals must be protected. I am turning to the federal court to ensure that Aylo only posts intimate videos with the direct knowledge and consent of everyone appearing in those images.” Dufresne is seeking a court order to require Aylo, which is owned by Ottawa-based private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners, to “implement clear and specific measures to ensure that meaningful consent is obtained directly from all individuals who appear in intimate images and videos that are uploaded to its websites." Despite contending that Aylo has improved “some” of its privacy practices and verification measures, Dufresne believes that this legal application finds “that the company’s practices continue to fail to ensure that meaningful consent is obtained from everyone who appears in the videos.” Aylo did not respond to AVN's request for comment by post time. An Ontario woman initially filed a complaint with the privacy commissioner alleging that she was victimized by revenge porn uploaded to Pornhub in 2015. She reached out to Aylo, known as MindGeek at the time, to remove the material, and it did. But it kept circulating. Since Pornhub had download functions at the time, the woman’s video of her victimization was downloaded and re-uploaded several times and was eventually found 700 times on 80 other websites—the vast majority of which are not owned by Aylo.  The findings in the 2024 report indicate that the woman employed a professional takedown service at a considerable personal expense. The report documents what Dufresne considers shortcomings in Aylo’s trust and safety overhaul since December 2020. Dufresne proposed changes in Aylo’s trust and safety protocols that are non-binding.