Dublin-based unit behind Pornhub says US lawsuit over sharing users' data 'without merit'

Gordon Deegan

A Dublin-based subsidiary of the operator of the world’s most visited adult entertainment website, Pornhub, has stated that a US class action lawsuit alleging that the company shared user data without users’ consent is “without merit”.

That is according to a statement contained in new and overdue accounts for Aylo Billing Ltd which show that revenues dipped by 2pc from $307.4m in 2020 to $300.8m (€255.29m) in 2021.

The company has its registered office here at Baldonnell Business Park in D22 and a business address at Nicoscia, Cyprus and in 2021, pre-tax profits reduced by 33pc to $7.1m.

The firm an interim dividend of $15m

In the account signed off on March 24th of this year, the directors state that the class action in the US District Court of California alleging that the company shared data without users’ consent “to be without merit” and the company “intends to vigorously defend it”.

The note states that the class action filed by an anonymous person in March 2024 claims assert that the company and affiliated companies benefited from and unlawfully shared user data with third parties without user consent.

The note states that the plaintiff seeks various remedies, including damages, an injunction preventing the company and affiliated companies from continuing to violate privacy regulations.

The class action states that it specifically requests include prohibiting the transmission or use of user data, requiring destruction of improperly obtained date, notifying affected consumers, and awarding damages such a statutory, punitive, restitution... along with reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and other equitable relief as deemed just by the court.

'World class adult content platforms'

On its website, Aylo describes itself as “a tech pioneer offering world class adult content platforms”.

Aylo state: “We are leaders in implementing safety and security policies, ensuring that our properties remain among the safest platforms online for our communities and are at the forefront of combating illegal content.”

The principal activity of the firm is the resale of membership subscriptions and the management of online memberships for certain websites primarily delivered through online and mobile media platforms.

The directors state that they consider the result for the financial year to be satisfactory given the prevailing market conditions.

The accounts show that the firm’s accumulated funds at the end of December 2021 totalled €7.39m.

The directors state that the firm has also been named as a co-defendant in a 2021 case from a court in Alabama in the US where the two anonymous claimants in a putative class action alleging that the Group benefited from a sex trafficking venture in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Re-authorization Act and the Group received, possessed and distributed child pornography.

The plaintiffs are requesting unspecified compensatory and punitive damages injunctive relief, attorneys' fees, costs,

The directors state that "the company considers the lawsuit to be without merit and intends to vigorously defend against it".