Youtube is at risk of criminal complaints in the EU because of its ad blocker campaign

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Vn-Z.vn November 13, 2023, According to Tomhardware An Ireland-based privacy consultant says he is in the process of filing a criminal complaint against YouTube for alleged illegal surveillance France.

Specifically, Alexander Hanff's legal action against this video sharing platform because of the campaign to prevent high ad blockers is attracting a lot of attention from YouTube users recently. The platform has continuously updated its algorithms to detect ad-blocking browser plug-ins. The Register reports that Hanff filed a similar complaint regarding Facebook's collection of data without consent.

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The criminal complaints brought by Hanff can be seen as a harsh continuation of the previous anti-privacy initiative. Two weeks ago, he filed a civil complaint about YouTube browser extension snooping. However, Hanff sees the criminal complaint route as potentially more effective, as he asserts that “historically, EU regulators have enforced the ePrivacy Directive vigorously.” extremely bad”. The criminal complaint route will also protect privacy consultants from the risks of high costs associated with civil litigation.

Many YouTube viewers have continuously encountered troubles when the platform has implemented algorithms that check their browser settings, and a warning appears stating that users will be blocked when using an ad blocker. , they need to remove their ad blocker or switch to a Premium account.


Hanff has strong opinions about YouTube's ad blocking tracking practices. "I consider YouTube's script to be spyware - also known as surveillance technology, because it is deployed without my knowledge or authorization to my device for the purpose of only to block and monitor my behavior," .


All of this tracking occurred despite Hanff having set the "Do Not Track" (DNT) option in his browser of choice. Site owner consent when running scripts, analytics, and other activities should be sought by sites like YouTube and Facebook. Hanff would seem to have a strong case, since such consent is required under European Union law.


Ireland has separate computer abuse laws, which would help strengthen Hanff's case against Silicon Valley tech giants. Articles 2 and 5 of the law state that those who access information intentionally by breaching security measures or doing so without legal authority "shall be deemed to have committed a crime". So these criminal cases could have real implications for YouTube and Facebook's data handling, at least in Ireland and possibly across the EU. When an individual or entity files a criminal complaint, it may result in an investigation and trial under criminal law, which can have severe legal consequences for the person or entity charged. . If convicted, the defendant may face punishment such as imprisonment, fines or other sanctions.


Representatives of YouTube and Facebook have not yet responded to the above legal actions.


Source: Tomhardware
 
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