YouTube Faces Criminal Complaint for 'Spying' on Users While Detecting Ad Blockers: Report

A privacy consultant has alleged that YouTube has violated Ireland's computer abuse law by detecting ad blockers on users' computers.

Written by David Delima | Updated: 13 November 2023 20:21 IST

YouTube Faces Criminal Complaint for 'Spying' on Users While Detecting Ad Blockers: Report

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Szabo Viktor

YouTube's global crackdown on users with ad blocking extensions began a few weeks ago

Highlights

YouTube recently stopped users with ad blockers from viewing videos
The ad blocker detection mechanism involves running scripts in a browser
A privacy consultant has filed a complaint against the purported spyware

YouTube could face criminal charges in Europe for allegedly spying on users, according to a report. The Alphabet-owned video streaming platform recently introduced restrictions on ad blockers on the service, preventing users who used specific browser extensions from viewing videos. A privacy consultant, who has deemed Google's new system to block ads 'spyware', is now preparing a complaint against Google under Irish law, for detecting ad blockers on users' computers, weeks after filing a civil complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission.

Privacy consultant Alexander Hanff is filing a complaint against YouTube under Ireland's computer abuse law, The Register reports. Ireland's National Police have reportedly acknowledged the consultant's complaint and sought more information. According to Hanff, the video streaming service's browser interrogation system — tracking scrips that are designed to identify ad blockers in use on a browser — is the equivalent of spying on citizens in the EU.

Last month, YouTube began cracking down on ad blockers globally, pushing users to either allow ads on the video streaming platform, or opt for the company's YouTube Premium subscription. Days after informing users that the use of ad blockers would not be permitted on the service, the company raised the price of YouTube Premium subscriptions in seven countries — existing subscribers have a three-month grace period before they will be charged the new subscription fee, according to the company.

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Hanff also told The Register that he believed the script used by YouTube to detect ad blockers was deployed with one purpose — to monitor his behaviour (whether ads were allowed to load in his browser) without his knowledge or authorisation — deeming it spyware.

According to the report, the consultant opted to file a criminal complaint against the search giant due to regulators' abysmal track record of enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive (or ePrivacy Directive) that came into force in 2002.

Hanff's decision to file a criminal complaint comes shortly after he filed a civil complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission against the video streaming platform's new browser interrogation service. Google must now provide a response to the commission regarding the claims made by the privacy consultant, according to the report.

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Further reading: YouTube, Privacy, EU, YouTube Ad Blockers, Ad Free YouTube

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More