Some of the biggest names in adult entertainment, including Pornhub, Kink, Bellesa, and Redgifs, are facing a wave of class-action lawsuits that could shake up how websites handle user data. But the twist isn’t some new-age hacking scandal—it’s about a law passed back when video rentals came on VHS tapes.
The ’80s Lawsuit Waking Up the Internet
Two law firms, Los Angeles-based Srourian Law Firm PC and New York’s Siri & Glimstad LLP, have filed federal lawsuits in California against the parent companies of these major platforms. Their claim? That these sites are violating the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) of 1988.
The lawsuits allege that by using standard, everyday marketing software from Google—like Google Analytics and Google Ads—these sites are illegally sharing user viewing habits. The anonymous plaintiffs in the cases claim this data sharing is a direct violation of their privacy rights under the decades-old act.
The suits, like one filed against Pornhub’s parent company Aylo, argue that plaintiffs “are being victimized by Aylo’s use of Google marketing software that communicates generalized user behavior to the search engine provider.”
This software is the backbone of the modern internet, helping sites understand traffic, see which pages are popular, and analyze trends—the very data that fuels things like Pornhub’s popular annual “Year in Review” report.
A Legal Strategy Raising Eyebrows
This isn’t the first time the VPPA has been aimed at a porn company. AVN reported on a similar lawsuit last summer, which was met with heavy skepticism from First Amendment lawyers. The core issue is whether a law designed to protect your Blockbuster rental history can be applied to the complex world of browser cookies and digital analytics.
Interestingly, Google, the creator of the software at the center of the controversy, isn’t named as a defendant in these lawsuits.
An anonymous source speaking to AVN suggested the motives might not be purely about privacy, believing the lawsuits are “simply performative tactics and are unlikely to hold merit.”
Adding fuel to that fire, the law firm Siri & Glimstad is actively recruiting more plaintiffs through a marketing website, JoinClassActions.com. The site is investigating numerous porn sites and promises potential plaintiffs they might be “entitled to substantial compensation.” As reported by legal news outlets like Top Class Actions, the VPPA’s high statutory damages of $2,500 per violation make it an appealing target for class-action specialists.
Not Just an Adult Industry Problem
While adult sites are the current headliners, this legal trend is much bigger. According to reports from publications like Bloomberg Law, these “pixel” lawsuits are being filed against a massive range of companies—from news organizations to e-commerce sites—that use embedded video players and tracking tools from Google or Meta.
The strategy has had mixed results in court. Some judges have dismissed similar cases, ruling that sharing an anonymous digital ID and a video link doesn’t count as sharing “personally identifiable information” in the way the 1988 law intended.
Fan reactions on forums and social media are split. Some users express genuine concern about any form of tracking on adult sites, while others see it as a normal part of today’s internet and view the lawsuits as a cash grab by opportunistic lawyers.
What’s Next?
For now, the companies involved—Aylo, Kink, Bellesa, and Redgifs—are staying silent, citing the ongoing litigation. The industry’s trade group, the Free Speech Coalition, has also declined to comment.
As the digital world grapples with laws written for an analog age, these cases highlight a growing tension between user privacy, standard business practices, and legal loopholes. The question remains whether these lawsuits will genuinely protect consumers or just prove to be a passing, albeit noisy, legal fad.
* Thumbnail from asnhub.com
