Privacy advocate challenges YouTube’s ad blocking detection scripts under EU law https://t.co/MTYV3JMhUF
— The Register (@TheRegister) October 26, 2023
Last week, privacy advocate Alexander Hanff filed a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) decrying YouTube’s deployment of JavaScript code to detect the use of ad blocking extensions. YouTube now rolls out a message to most users using an adblocker, advising them to disable it. If a user ignores the message, they get three chances before playback is completely disabled. To remove the block, you either disable your adblocker or subscribe to their YouTube Premium. Or, find an alternative way to get around YouTube’s sensors (which most do).
But, in order to present that popup, YouTube needs to run a script (changed at least twice a day) to detect any adblock a user may be running. And that script, Hanff believes, violates the EU’s ePrivacy Directive, because YouTube did not first ask for explicit consent to conduct such browser interrogation.
A spokesperson for the Irish DPC told The Register that Hanff’s complaint had been received, but declined to comment further while it is being evaluated.
Google did not respond to a request for comment.
Read a more detailed article at the source.
ONTD, have you been having any trouble with YouTube recently?
