The New York Times reported that Facebook, Google and Oracle are monitoring their users on pornographic websites.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pennsylvania - in collaboration with researchers from Microsoft - studied 22484 Web sites using the WebXray tool to identify tracking tools that transfer user data to third parties.
The study found that Google has tracking software on 74% of pornographic sites, which is about 16638 of these sites, and Oracle has tracking programs on 24% or 5396 sites. Facebook has tracking devices on only 10% of pornographic sites, which is close to 2448 sites.
Researchers warn that the very sensitive nature of data leaking from people's use is cause for concern. "The fact that adult tracking is very similar to online retail tracking, which should be a red line," researcher Elena Maris told the New York Times.
The study also found that only 17% of pornographic sites are encrypted, making users highly vulnerable to piracy.
Google and Facebook defense
The Google Analytics program says tracking software can be set up on sites for various reasons. For example, traffic data is returned to websites so they can monitor their traffic.
While Facebook provides the sites the ability to include the "Like" feature of these sites, allowing to participate again on Facebook. But in contrast, there are concerns about the process of collecting data on site visitors, and not knowing exactly what is happening to the data.
Facebook and Google said they did not use information gathered from visitors to pornographic sites to create marketing profiles.
A Google spokesman told Business Insider, "We do not allow Google ads on websites that contain adult content and block profiles and personalized ads based on a user's sexual interests or related activities on the Internet. We send our personally identifiable information to Google. "
A Facebook spokesman echoed the same statement in a Times newspaper statement, saying the company blocked sexual sites from using Facebook tracking tools for commercial purposes such as advertising. While Oracle did not respond to multiple Times requests for comment.