The FTC claims Pornhub’s parent company Aylo turned a blind eye and profited from underage porn. But a 2021 Supreme Court ruling prevents the agency from imposing significant fines.
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The US Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on Pornhub and its sister properties for allegedly ignoring the underage and non-consensual pornography circulating on the websites.
However, Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, is only being fined $5 million, a paltry sum the FTC blames on a 2021 Supreme Court ruling that prevents it from demanding a bigger sum and compensating victims.
“Pornhub’s operators turned a blind eye to the proliferation of videos depicting the sexual abuse of children on its sites so it could profit off this exploitation,” Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.
Aylo claims the “FTC’s complaints all stem from 2020 or earlier,” and says it has since instituted major reforms to stop child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from appearing on its sites, which also include RedTube and YouPorn. This came after major credit card companies, including Visa and Mastercard, stopped processing payments for Pornhub, citing the illegal content.
The credit card ban appears to remain in place to this day. In 2023, Pornhub’s parent MindGeek changed its name to Aylo to seek a “fresh start” while focusing on trust and safety. But despite the overhaul, the FTC is demanding that Pornhub be held accountable for allegedly “profiting” from the underage and non-consensual pornography.
The US regulator charged Aylo with engaging in deceptive practices by claiming it had a zero tolerance for CSAM when it allegedly did little to stop the videos from circulating.
“In reality, Aylo failed to review videos flagged by users, did not ban uploaders of CSAM from further use of their websites, did not prevent the reupload of CSAM that Aylo had identified, and did not review all videos before they went live for CSAM or NCM (non-consensual material),” the FTC says.Recommended by Our Editors
The commission’s crackdown reveals specific instances of Pornhub allegedly ignoring illegal content. In one example, the FTC claims that Aylo permitted CSAM by urging its content partners to “contribute content involving ‘young girl,’ ‘schoolgirl’ and similar topics,” and promoting user playlists that had titles including “less than 18,” and “the best collection of young boys.”
The FTC adds that Aylo’s own audits in response to the credit card ban found that the company’s sites had been hosting “tens of thousands of CSAM and NCM videos.” In one chilling incident from 2019, a 16-year-old girl «repeatedly» asked Pornhub to ban a Content Partner named kingdickflash, who had uploaded sexual videos of her to the site. Although Pornhub removed the videos, the FTC claims the company directed the «Compliance team not to ban the Content Partner or channel, allowing it to continue posting videos until January 2021.»
The commission also claims: “Even when it began taking action against uploaders of CSAM in October 2022, it only prohibited the user from making a new account under the same username or email address but did not prevent them from creating a new account using an alternate email address and username.”
Still, the FTC fined Aylo only $15 million, of which it will only need to pay $5 million to the state of Utah, which filed the complaint with the FTC. That’s a small amount considering the complaint says Aylo made «over $350 million in subscription revenue in 2020, with over $190 million of that figure coming from US consumers.»
The settlement also requires Aylo to implement a program to prevent the publication or dissemination of CSAM and NCM content, and implement a system to verify that people who appear in videos or photos on its websites are adults and have provided consent.
mmissioner Mark Meador says the goal is to ensure «that the company’s history of abuses never recurs.» He also commented on why the penalty is so small, citing a 2021 US Supreme Court ruling that he says «kneecapped» the commission’s ability to seek restitution for victims. Specifically, it ruled that Section 13(b) of the FTC Act only authorizes the commission to implement injunctions, rather than equitable monetary relief.
«Because of this, the Commission today lacks the power to obtain appropriate financial relief for those victimized by Aylo’s evil acts», according to Meador, who called on Congress to «pass a narrowly tailored legislative fix to once again allow the Commission to obtain justice for injured consumers in the form of financial compensation.»
In the meantime, Aylo tells PCMag: «The resolution reached involved enhancements to existing measures, but did not introduce any new substantive requirements that were not either already in place or in progress. This settlement resolves the investigation and underscores Aylo’s commitment to robust safety protocols that should be applied broadly across all websites publishing user-generated content.”

The Eero Signal will be available next year for Eero Plus subscribers.
Amazon’s Eero is getting into the cellular hotspot router business… sort of. At IFA 2025, the company announced the Eero Signal, a device that can back up your Eero network with cellular data, kicking in when it detects an internet outage.
The Eero Signal is an upright little device with a USB-C splitter that plugs into your existing Eero router’s USB-C port, powering both devices. If you’re paying for a $99.99 annual subscription to Eero Plus, you’ll get 10GB of cellular backup data per year. Eero will also roll out a $199.99/year “Eero Plus 100” plan that, you guessed it, gives you 100GB of data to use. Eero spokesperson Connor Rice said the Signal will work with any USB-C Eero router that supports Wi-Fi 6 or higher.
Eero Plus subscribers already have access to a built-in backup internet feature—called, uh, Eero Internet Backup—that can automatically switch your network over to a nearby hotspot or alternative Wi-Fi network. But if you’d rather not pay separately for another company’s mobile hotspot data and don’t just have another Wi-Fi network lying around to use, you can pick up a 4G LTE version of the Signal for $99.99 early next year. Eero says that later in 2026, it will release another one that uses 5G RedCap, a newer cellular protocol meant to provide low-latency, low-bandwidth service, primarily for things like IoT and wearable devices. The 5G model will set you back $199.99, according to Rice.
Eero is “working with multiple major cellular carriers to enable backup data if there’s an internet outage,” according to Rice. He said the throughput customers can expect when using the Signal’s cell backup will be up to 150Mbps, while the 5G RedCap version will get up to 220Mbps. He added that those are “theoretical maximums,” and actual speed will depend on several factors, like how close users are to cell towers and what cellular spectrum is available.
The company also announced the Eero PoE 7, a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 power over ethernet router that works with its existing mesh systems and can get both power and data from a single ethernet cable. This one won’t be available to the general public—instead, it’s intended for “businesses and residential properties that use wired infrastructure and have high-bandwidth needs.” The PoE 7 has specs similar to the Eero Max 7, with the company promising wireless throughput up to 3.9Gbps and wired up to 9.4Gbps. Each device will have two 10GbE ports and can cover up to 2,000 square feet, according to Eero. The PoE 7 will be available in the U.S. and Canada in November for $499.99, from “select internet service providers and professional installers.”

Norton VPN Standard offers a solid set of essential features, but it still needs to grow to compete as a top-tier standalone VPN service.
Norton’s VPN feels like it is still growing from its inception as a bundled add-on to the Norton 360 security suite. It has a solid foundation with a physical-only server network, advanced routing technology like double VPN, and optimized servers for P2P and streaming traffic. However, a lack of short-term plans and anonymous payment methods are clear downsides, while lengthy data retention periods increase your risk when it comes to potential breaches. Although it shows promise, Norton VPN Standard ultimately lags behind competitors such as our Editors’ Choice winner, Proton VPN, which has more flexible plans and delivers a more private experience across the board.How Much Does Norton VPN Cost?
I normally evaluate a VPN’s price based on its monthly option. I don’t recommend long-term plans because you can end up locked into a subscription that may not work for you down the line. Plus, those discounts you see tacked onto annual plans are often temporary, and you may end up with an unpleasant surprise when it renews at the full non-discounted rate. Unfortunately, Norton only has annual subscriptions.
There are three price tiers: Standard, Plus, and Ultimate. The Standard plan is $39.99 ($3.33 per month) for the first year (and renews at $79.99). Plus is $49.99 ($4.17 per month) for the first year (it renews at $109.99). Finally, the Ultimate plan is $59.99 ($5 per month) for the first year (and renews at $129.99).
For this review, I’m evaluating the Standard plan since it only includes the VPN and a few related extras. Norton’s Plus and Ultimate tiers expand into security suite territory with a bundled antivirus, password manager, parental control hub, cloud data management, and dark web monitoring. For a comprehensive overview of all of those features, check out our review of Norton VPN Ultimate.
There is a seven-day free trial, but you must input payment information and create an account. It renews at the Standard plan rate after that week. All annual plans are backed by a 60-day money-back guarantee, which well exceeds the average 30-day refund period I see from most VPNs. While having a single term length for plans does demystify pricing compared with services that have varying discounts and features depending on how long you subscribe, I would have liked to see a monthly plan for users who may not want to be locked into such a lengthy subscription.
Payment options are limited. Norton accepts PayPal, Google Pay, and credit cards. No cryptocurrency or alternative payment methods are available. That makes purchasing anonymously nearly impossible unless you use a burner card and email, which can make managing your account difficult. Many competing VPNs offer cryptocurrency payment options, while IVPN and Mullvad even let you pay with cash.What Do You Get for Your Money With Norton VPN?
Norton’s standard plan secures just five devices, which is an easy limit to hit. In fact, I ran into that cap when performing my tests across devices. With competitors, such as TunnelBear, removing connection restrictions entirely, five simply doesn’t cut it. You can get 10 simultaneous devices by upgrading to the Ultimate plan, but that bare minimum shouldn’t be locked behind a pricier subscription with extras you may not need.
Aside from that limitation, the Standard plan is rich with useful tools. Split tunneling is available, allowing you to route apps out of the VPN tunnel. A basic kill switch is present, though it lacks any advanced configuration options. There is support for LAN devices and a switch to enable multi-VPN support if you want to run Norton in tandem with another service. Auto-connect can be configured to your liking, such as only triggering when you launch a P2P application or connect to a public network.
A built-in tracker blocker shows you how many trackers have been thwarted by it, and there’s an ad blocker extension for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. As with most ad blockers, it works well on text-based websites. I was surprised that the extension excelled at blocking ads on video sites like YouTube as well. You can also control the VPN from the extension, which makes it easy to stay protected without having to stop what you’re doing.What Protocols Does Norton VPN Support?
Norton has a proprietary protocol called Mimic that aims to bypass VPN-blocking technologies by disguising traffic as standard HTTPS. It is backed by post-quantum encryption and prioritizes privacy, resulting in slower speeds compared with WireGuard. I found it effective at bypassing blocks on streaming services such as Netflix (more on that later).
While I didn’t experience any DNS leaks with Mimic, I am hesitant to recommend using a closed-source protocol. Even ExpressVPN has released its protocol, Lightway, to the public, ensuring transparency by giving out the core codebase. WireGuard and OpenVPN are both industry-leading open-source protocols. With nearly every alternative being transparent, it’s not worth placing your trust in proprietary protocols that could have unknown security vulnerabilities.
Mimic, WireGuard, and OpenVPN are available on Windows and Android. MacOS and iOS users are limited to just IPSec and Mimic. Norton does not currently offer Linux support.Servers and Server Locations
Many VPNs claim to have tens of thousands of servers all over the world. While some of that marketing hype may be technically true, it doesn’t mean your experience will necessarily be better compared with a network that has fewer options. The way that VPNs can boast support for so many locations is by using virtual servers. While a virtual server can give access to a region with hard-to-access infrastructure, it isn’t a one-to-one substitute for a physical one. Your performance may suffer even if you live in the region that the server gives access to, since the real hardware running it could be halfway around the globe.
With that in mind, I am impressed that Norton’s network is 100% physical. The exact figure is always changing, but Norton’s server page gives a comprehensive, transparent view of what locations are available. There are more than 100 servers in more than 65 countries with 25 city-level options spread across the US and the UK. Each location has details regarding the closest city, streaming support, and supported protocols.
In addition to having peer-to-peer (P2P) optimized servers in the US and the Netherlands, Norton has a couple of useful tools called double VPN (often referred to as multi-hop) and IP rotation. Those accustomed to the TOR network will be familiar with the technology behind these double VPN servers. Instead of routing your traffic through a single server, your data travels through a secondary server to further obfuscate your activity. This obfuscation does come at the cost of speed. It should be used for tasks that require increased anonymity rather than for streaming content or downloading large files. Double VPN is currently supported in the following configurations:
United States ⇄ Canada
United Kingdom ⇄ Germany
Australia ⇄ New Zealand
Canada ⇄ US
Germany ⇄ United Kingdom
Japan ⇄ Taiwan

IP rotation is a convenient feature that refreshes your IP address periodically. You can do this manually by disconnecting and reconnecting from a server, but this tool does it for you automatically. It can be good for bypassing certain website blocks and helping to prevent tracking. However, much like double VPN, this technology will impact your performance. IP rotation is supported in the US, UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, and Australia.Your Privacy With Norton VPN
The last time we tested Norton, its VPN privacy policy was tied to all of the company’s other security products. Now, there is a standalone privacy policy that covers all of the ins and outs of how data is handled for just the VPN service. The new privacy policy strikes a good balance between depth and ease of reading. The content is detailed, and real-world examples and charts supplement the legal text throughout.
Norton does not log browsing history, originating IP addresses, or DNS queries. Additionally, it claims to use any data it does log internally and not to sell to third-party advertisers or businesses. It does, however, retain certain user information for longer than I’d expect from a VPN. Connection events (such as connect/disconnects from servers) that can link back to licenses and devices are kept for upwards of 24 months. Connection timestamps are retained for up to 35 days. Application events (installs, uninstalls, error states, etc) are logged for 36 months when it comes to error states and 24 months for general events. Crash reports are linked to your service records and can be connected back to your user license, and such reports are monitored for 90 days. Bandwidth usage and app usage metadata are both retained for 36 months.
I appreciate the level of transparency Norton gives regarding the data it keeps, but that doesn’t change the fact that the service retains information for a long time. Competitors such as Surfshark retain similar connection timestamps, but that data is only kept for 15 minutes after the session concludes. I spoke with a representative from Norton who stated that those time frames are set to come down significantly in the near future, but I am still wary of any logging that could be tied back to user accounts and licenses.
Norton has made recent strides in its privacy measures with a quarterly transparency report showing requests received, and the service’s no-log policy has been independently verified by VerSprite. Despite my concerns about how long Norton logs data, no such information has led back to any users. The company claims that it does not have the customer data to hand over and that the diagnostic information it does keep is aggregated and anonymized. VerSprite’s report is publicly available on Norton’s no-logs policy page and details the tests carried out as well as the findings. Does Norton VPN Work With Netflix?
Netflix and other streaming services restrict access to regional catalogs due to licensing deals with certain regions. A show that is available in the United States may not be available in Canada, for example.
Norton seamlessly provided unrestricted access to every region I tested. The chart above shows my full testing results, and I explain how I qualified these results in my guide on how to unblock Netflix with a VPN.Speed and Performance
almost always negatively impacts your upload and download speeds while increasing latency. It works by routing your traffic through an encrypted tunnel to a server that could be hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from your home location. The further your data travels, the more of an impact you can expect.
Additionally, connection speeds are highly variable. Local congestion, server proximity, and your base internet speeds can all affect your perceived performance. To get a general idea of how a VPN may impact your performance, I calculated the percentage change between a series of tests run with a VPN and without using the Ookla Speedtest tool. (Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com’s parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.)
Norton performed exceedingly well with a 5.2% decrease in download speeds, a 5.78% decrease in upload speeds, and a 58.14% increase in latency. These scores place it among the fastest VPNs I have tested, but there’s a caveat: While the median speeds were impressive, I experienced a lot of variance. Repeated tests across a range of servers resulted in low outlying scores that would reduce my speeds, at times, by upwards of 90%. My connection often improved a few minutes later, but those drops could result in stuttering in games, hitches in streaming, and slow file downloads.
The chart below shows how Norton compares with the rest of the competition. While the raw numbers don’t show those stutters, keep them in mind if you need a more stable connection:
My results are representative of this VPN at a particular time of day and in a particular location. Undoubtedly, your experience will differ. For that reason, I don’t recommend choosing a VPN based on speed testing alone.Hands On With Norton VPN for Windows
If you’re accustomed to Norton’s 360 antivirus suite, then you’ll be well at home with the VPN app’s black-and-yellow color scheme. It shares many of the same design choices and elements, making for a consistent experience across its products.
The connection screen takes up the majority of the window, with a big yellow button in the center situated below a drop-down server list. Hit Connect, and you’ll see the IP address of the server you are connected to, which is also visualized by a green dot on a world map in the background. You can pause or disconnect from the VPN right there on the home page. The left-hand menu has a store option for purchasing additional Norton products, a help and support tab, and a settings option.
The help tab has handy links to the FAQ, account management page, and support center. The settings menu has tabs for VPN configurations, general client options, notifications, troubleshooting steps, and product information. Useful features on Windows include split tunneling, double VPN, IP rotation, kill switch, ad blocker, and auto-connect.Hands On With Norton VPN for macOS
To test Norton on macOS, I loaded it up on a 2020 M1 MacBook Pro running Sequoia 15.5. The interface is largely the same as on Windows, with only minor cosmetic changes. Since there was no App Store version available, I had to get the macOS file directly from my account dashboard.
However, some features are missing. Split tunneling isn’t available on the macOS version, and protocols are limited to Mimic and IPSec. All other major utilities are available, though you’ll need to download Chrome or Firefox to use the ad blocker extension.Hands On With Norton VPN for iOS
For my iOS tests, I used Norton on an iPhone 14 running iOS 16.3. You can download Norton directly from the App Store for an easy install. The mobile interface places the map and connection button in full focus, with settings tucked away behind the gear icon in the top right corner of the app.
Split tunneling is absent from iOS, and protocols are limited to IPsec and Mimic. Notably, the kill switch can only be enabled while using Mimic. Double VPN is present, but it is locked to IPSec. Compared with the Windows client, both macOS and iOS versions are rather limited in features and functionality. Hands On With Norton VPN for Android
I tested Norton’s Android app using a Samsung Galaxy S23 FE running Android 14. It was easy to install, as you can download the service directly from the Google Play Store. The layout is the same as on iOS, but there are a few key feature differences.
Features are in line with the Windows version, including split tunneling, double VPN, IP rotation, and kill switch. There were no notable missing tools or utilities. Protocols for Android are the same as on Windows and include WireGuard, Mimic, and OpenVPNSupport Options
Realistically, you’re going to run into an issue with even the best services every once in a while. It could be an error with a new update, or maybe the client no longer works on a new device. Ideally, you won’t need to dig around for support articles or ask a customer service representative for help with your VPN. I evaluate a VPN’s support options to ensure there are ample resources when you need them.
Norton’s support options cover the company’s entire range of products, so once you go to the help center, you’ll need to narrow down your issue through a few filters. The search function works well enough, though I recommend scrolling past the generated AI solution to get to the actual support articles. The AI didn’t get anything too wrong, but the support articles have helpful videos and images tacked on that make troubleshooting easier.
You can contact a support agent via chat, phone, Facebook, or Twitter/X. I tested both the phone and live chat support lines. Since I didn’t experience any issues with the service, I asked both agents to walk me through how a VPN works and how to use the Windows app. For live chat, you’ll have to talk to a virtual assistant that will try to solve the problem with support articles and generated answers based on the site’s knowledge base. It takes some pushing to get an agent. I had to ask twice for the bot to connect me with a human being. For phone support, you’ll also encounter an AI assistant first. It took me asking three times for an agent to be moved to the queue. Once there, my hold time was around three minutes.
The live chat and phone support agents were helpful and patient. However, the phone agent did have to put me on hold a few times to consult a manual to assist in answering my questions. My concerns were fairly basic, such as asking about the differences between certain protocols. So, I wouldn’t expect a detailed response to a complex issue right away—you will likely have to go through an escalation process to get a more advanced technician. At the end of the call, I was asked if I wanted to upgrade my account to the Plus or Ultimate plans, which I declined.