Live data from Hacker News

Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

arxiv.org

161–170 of 239 posts

Re: Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

#161
post #116

Maybe a good moment to commemorate the infamous RedTubeGate from 2013 in Germany: A couple lawyers and fishy business men launch an ad campaign on RedTube. Through that advertisement they collected IP addresses of visitors. Before launching that campaign they allegedly bought the rights for three cheap porn flicks. Now they also claim that they have some miraculous software which allows them to track who has been wat…

Prenda Law had a similar scam going here in the US, but used BitTorrent instead of RedTube. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenda_Law

The difference is that bittorrent is uploading content. People are getting sued left and right for Bittorrent cases in germany but for streaming, that was a new one.

Re: Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet you close the bathroom or stall door when you poop though. They're both something many/most people don't like to advertise. Maybe they'd be even less happy to have details of either habit known. You might think that's silly, but it's far from unusual, it's the norm.

> I bet you close the bathroom or stall door when you poop though. Many public restrooms in the U.S. barely have a door, and if they do it is so high off the ground and so short it barely offers any privacy at all

And in restrooms like that, I rarely poop. Only if necessary.

I'm pretty sure the lack of privacy in US public restrooms stems from illicit use and loss prevention. Not a cultural norm of acceptance of pooping.

Re: Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

#163
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, private browsing in Firefox blocks known trackers by default.

Enhanced Tracking Protection is now on by default even when not in private browsing.

> Enhanced Tracking Protection is now on by default even when not in private browsing.

Only for new installs. For existing installs it'll be "in the coming months" (I believe around the Firefox 70 timeline, though that could slip).

Re: Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't browsers enable anti-fingerprinting (fingerprint spoofing) when you go incognito?

incognito was designed for when sharing a browser with another user, but does nothing on the remote end to keep you private. ad nauseum actively poisons the dataset by clicking on every link it is presented. this can be useful when it is combined with other techniques. https://web.archive.org/web/20180714043311/https://iotdarwin... (sadly) do-not-track also doesn't work - it makes you stick out even more when activat…

Well, Firefox for one does things to help against tracking. Surely not all the things that can be done, but at least the ones they figured out to be worth it for everyone.

Re: Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

#165
post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are good sites. But cartoon porn with underage characters is illegal in some countries. And marginally so in the US, depending on attitude of the prosecutor. Also, I've come across some cartoon porn sites that are too disturbing to even risk describing here. Violence per se isn't so illegal, but underage sex + violence may well be.

>I've come across some cartoon porn sites that are too disturbing to even risk describing here Those are the best ones :) Well, you can be disturbed by the work if you want, but please don't discriminate against the people who are into it. We're just human beings like everyone else: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SD9-4pUPH0&t=130

That's actually the most disturbing aspect. They're absolutely cruel and disgusting, and yet extremely sexual. And it's been very hard to forget about them.

Some old-school shock sites were a little like that. Lemon party, for example, is a disturbing image, for an old man. And that girls/cups one. But even those are just funny, compared to what I'm talking about.

If you email me, or PM me on Keybase, I'll share the link.

Re: Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

#166

Looks like everyone - vulnerable population or not - should be using VPN when viewing pornographic content.[1] [1] https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2019/07/why-you-n...

VPNs don't help here. https://panopticlick.eff.org https://gist.github.com/joepie91/5a9909939e6ce7d09e29

So this is really interesting:

On Panopticlick with Firefox Mobile, with Ghostery plugin active in a normal tab I get 18 bits of info, in a private tab I get 17 bits, but the best is a private tab with Ghostery paused - then I get 16 bits, and equal results on the other parts.

Are privacy plugins really redundant in this day and age? Or is the test too incomplete to reflect their value?

Re: Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

#167

Mindgeek runs all of the biggest porn sites, and also runs its own ad network. Since the biggest of those sites are their "tube" sites, they run into the same issues as youtube when it comes to tracking individual tastes. Since the product is porn, which is very easily classifiable with a list of the physical features of actors (with maybe a few behavioral distinctions), the actors in the video, how they are matched…

> Moreover, it would be financially beneficial, because it'd be easy to maximize engagement with that stuff and a past record of engagement time Maybe they don't recommend the best video for you (i.e. the one you'll like the most) but one that is relatively good fit for your taste, without being too good, so that you spend more time on the site. If you know what I mean.

I was thinking the same thing when I typed that:)

Re: Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I see it everywhere, not just on reaction videos. I have seen them in in-store advertising in supermarkets. > I wonder what the next steps are. More digital augmentation awaits? Virtual/retouched streaming personas. It's already a thing in japan and among furries.

What software is being used to create virtual personas? Am I right in understanding that this work isn't being done by Western companies?

I haven't dug deeply, but there seems to be a whole ecosystem. An open source avatar data format[0], full body motion capture software[1], this stuff integrates with standard 3d software environments such as unity/unreal/blender/maya/max. So does commercial software[2]. For the hardware it can be a simple web/phone camera on the low end (giving you a talking head) over camera + VR trackers + an iphone for the face sensor to high end rigs with multiple cameras and mocap suits.

[0] https://vrm.dev/en/ [1] https://github.com/sh-akira/VirtualMotionCapture [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ_5d_1NHCQ

Re: Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

#169

Mindgeek runs all of the biggest porn sites, and also runs its own ad network. Since the biggest of those sites are their "tube" sites, they run into the same issues as youtube when it comes to tracking individual tastes. Since the product is porn, which is very easily classifiable with a list of the physical features of actors (with maybe a few behavioral distinctions), the actors in the video, how they are matched…

[deleted]

Re: Tracking Sex: Implications of widespread data leakage and tracking on porn sites

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine visiting port sites without using at least a VPN. And without using an ~anonymous persona, and ~anonymous payment methods. And full-disk encryption. And as I recall, I never did. But people obviously do. And get nailed by stuff like RedTubeGate, and the Ashley Madison leak. It's mind-boggling. Edit: OK, so I get the "I love my porn, and you closed-minded idiots can just sod off". That's easy to say, w…

I can't imagine visiting any site without a VPN. I mean, I can, but it does make me feel naked, nowadays. Who do I want knowing my visit to example.com: (1) my local sysadmin + my ISP + example.com (2) my VPN + their ISP Migration of leaked info to fewer and farther parties wins every time.

depending on which VPN provider you chose, (1) could be far safer. at least your local sysadmin and ISP have A) a direct work/business relationship with you that they'd likely rather not harm, and B) possibly some laws governing what they do with your personal information & which sites you visit.
Post reply on HN