MONTREAL — Aylo has released a statement responding to a report released by Canada’s privacy commissioner, regarding a complaint about user-generated content.
The complaint was filed by an unidentified woman whose boyfriend uploaded intimate content to Pornhub and other websites owned by the company formerly known as MindGeek, without her consent, in 2015.
The privacy commissioner conducted an investigation and concluded that “MindGeek had a legal obligation to obtain the complainant’s consent and had failed to do so.”
The commissioner also concluded that “MindGeek’s consent model, which relies on the uploader to attest that they have obtained consent from each individual whose highly sensitive personal information is depicted in uploaded content, does not constitute reasonable efforts to ensure that meaningful consent has been obtained from those individuals.”
The report also states that “changes to MindGeek’s practices in 2020, and since, have not remedied this contravention.”
Aylo’s response to the privacy commissioner report follows:
It is critical that our compliance measures constantly evolve to keep up with the ever-changing internet. Over the years, we have instituted some of the most comprehensive safeguards in the user-uploaded environment in order to prevent and eliminate illegal material from our sites.
This includes mandatory uploader verification, banning downloads of content, expanding moderation workforce and processes, partnering with non-profit organizations around the world.
These are significant steps forward in identifying, removing, and reporting harmful and illegal content.
It is important to note subject matter of the complaint originated in 2015. In the near decade since, we have had a comprehensive overhaul of our Trust and Safety processes, including the verification by government-issued ID of all persons appearing in content uploaded to our platform.
To be clear, we have already developed practices and procedures that substantially address the concerns outlined in the report.
We are proud to have instituted Trust and Safety policies that rely heavily on not only our internal policies and moderation team, but also on our array of external partnerships and technologies, that surpass those of any other major user-generated platform on the internet.
We take harm to anyone very seriously. Day in and day out, Aylo’s Trust & Safety and engineering teams work collaboratively with law enforcement, advocacy groups and other stakeholders to prevent online abuse and to hold those abusers to account.
For more information please see our Trust and Safety Fact Sheet or our Trust and Safety Initiatives page.