YouTube accused of breaking the law by detecting whether you use ad blockers

YouTube may be facing its first hurdle in the fight against ad blockers. Privacy advocates say the platform will violate European Union laws when using the program without the user’s consent. That’s why they filed a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC).

Alexander Hanff, privacy expert, accused YouTube of using spyware to determine whether people have an ad blocker active. According to Hanff, the detection scripts used by the platform violate the ePrivacy Directive because they do not inform the user or obtain their explicit consent before execution.

The privacy advocate reiterates Article 5, Section 3, which states that companies must clearly and completely inform the user before accessing information stored on their equipment. Alexander Hanf claims that the script is saved on the user’s computer before runningtherefore it should be subject to the same laws as cookies.

To understand this complaint a little, we have to go back to 2016, when Hanff accused the company of using similar technology to detect the presence of ad blockers. Then a privacy activist accused BlockAdblock of violating the Cookie Law by downloading and running a script that determined whether you were using extensions. The company responded by saying it had not broken the law because its code did not require permanent storage or installation to function.

Detecting ad blockers would violate EU laws

In 2016 Hanff contacted the European Commission seek legal clarification on the application of the Directive regarding user consent to the storage of all information.

“Specifically, whether consent will be required to implement scripts or other technology to detect the ad blocker (as this is not strictly necessary to provide the requested service and is solely in the interests of the publisher),” he said. Register. “The European Commission has sent me a formal written response, agreeing with my position that such activities would require consent.”

Now it’s YouTube’s turn, which launched a campaign against ad blockers a few weeks ago. The platform modifies scripts twice a day to prevent users from bypassing the rule and using extensions such as uBlock or Adblock Plus. If the plugin is active, it will give the user a warning and block the player until it is disabled.

Alexander Hanf believes that YouTube follows the same pattern as BlockAdBlock.without asking for explicit consent to perform this check. In addition to this, the platform informs its users that using an ad blocker violates YouTube’s Terms of Service, which is not entirely true.

The activist notes that The Terms of Service do not explicitly prohibit ad blocking extensions.Limiting the rights of citizens by restricting access to their devices is void and unenforceable under EU law.

What actions will the EU take against YouTube?

A privacy advocate hopes the Irish Data Protection Commission will take action on the issue. The first step for the data center is to begin an investigation. to determine whether YouTube violates European Union laws. If you find her guilty, will warn you to stop this activity or you will be fined.

The situation is complicated because The European Commission gave the green light to companies to determine if you are using an ad blocker. An update to the Email Privacy Directive published in 2017 states that free service providers (such as YouTube) can send such notifications.

“The Commission recognizes that free content on the Internet is often funded by advertising revenue. The proposal therefore allows website providers to verify whether an end-user’s device can receive their content, including advertising, without obtaining the end-user’s consent.”

YouTube maintains its position and ensures will redouble efforts to combat ad blockers. At the same time, plugins like uBlock Origin are updating their rules to ensure users don’t have to deal with intrusive ads on their favorite videos. After all, we are faced with a battle that could last months or years before one side gives in.