The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens has received dozens of complaints from sex workers about the website GirlsReview.nl. On the forum, women's personal data are shared without permission, in violation of European privacy laws. The owner of the site says he does not recognize the image that sex workers paint and takes their complaints seriously. This appears from research by NOS, which spoke to five sex workers, the regulator and GirlsReview.nl.
GirlsReview.co.uk is an online forum where visitors can read and post reviews and experiences with sex workers, escorts, clubs and massage parlors. The site also includes sections where visitors help each other find specific sex workers, such as "Where is this lady now? They reveal not only the location of the woman in question, but also the new working name.
Untruths and false claims are also made in this column. According to the NIS, for example, it falsely states that anal sex is possible without a condom, or that someone likes to be "firmly handled. Sex workers are then confronted with disappointed men who want to indulge certain (extreme) sex fantasies. When they are then told "no," the situation can escalate.
"Because of GirlsReview, sex workers' data are out on the street and that is very dangerous. Also, sex workers have few options to have reviews removed if they contain things that are simply not true," said Iris de Munnik of the Complaint Desk, a government-funded support center where sex workers can file complaints and report violent incidents.
De Munnik says he has been working with a lawyer for some time to support sex workers, but that GirlsReview is not cooperating. "Sometimes they get no response, sometimes they get a response that uses rude language and does not bring a solution any closer. Sex workers emphatically have the same rights as other business owners. Violating their privacy is just as actionable."
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens confirms that it has received dozens of reports from sex workers and has therefore launched an investigation. "When I look at it from the outside, it worries me. You are not allowed to share another person's personal data. Sexual behavior falls under special personal data and the law is much stricter about that. Those are really very private," said Monique Verdier, vice president of the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens. She does not want to anticipate the results of the investigation.
This is not the first time the regulator has investigated possible privacy violations of sex workers. GirlsReview's predecessor, Hookers.nl, came under the radar of the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens when it suffered a data breach in 2019. A hacker managed to capture usernames, email addresses and IP addresses of 250,000 forum members. In the summer of 2021, the site threw in the towel as the AP demanded that reviews with personal data could not be linked to ads from the same sex worker.
In a reaction, GirlsReview states that it "does not recognize at all" the picture painted by the sex workers. The owner of the forum says that requests, questions or complaints from sex workers are received weekly and that they are all dealt with and answered substantively.
"Sex workers dealing with a high-risk situation are invariably helped immediately, in such situations, references to new stage names or reception locations do get taken down. In any case, it is strictly forbidden to reveal/expose any real name, home address or other private information of a sexual service provider. A team of moderators sees to it that no one violates these rules," GirlsReview.co.uk said.
Finally, the forum spokesperson says GirlsReview is "the sex worker-friendly review platform" out there. "Nevertheless, we will look into making the complaints procedure more visible on the homepage for stakeholders, and we invite the Complaints Desk to forward any complaints that come in to them to us."
