YouTubes Antiblick is illegal in the EU

eupolicy.social Alexander Hanff (@thatprivacyguy@eupolicy.social)

Today I filed a formal complaint against #YouTube with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner for their illegal deployment of #adblock detection technologies. Under Article 5(3) of 2002/58/EC YouTube are legally obligated to obtain consent before storing or accessing information already stored on a...

Cross post from https://lemmy.world/post/7027225

Technology @lemmy.world

Youtube's Anti-adblock is illegal in the EU

eupolicy.social /@thatprivacyguy/111261130799704016

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17 comments

Saw this pic floating around.
- actual source of "this pic" https://eupolicy.social/@thatprivacyguy/111261130799704016
  
  Thanks!
  The picture was shared on other social media sites, I did not see it mentioned in Lemmy or similar.
- Their obvious solution to this is make you consent to it or you can’t use YouTube.
  
  which isn't GDPR-compliant. you can't force people to accept tracking if the service doesn't require it to work.

I would recommend people read the IAB ad blocker detection guide for Europe which provides a good summary of what is possible. It lays out the that depending on how the detection is done it might be defensible to rely on ToS, and to remove all risk, implement a consent banner, wall, or both.
Which is to say, even if it was ruled that YouTube can't rely on ToS, which I don't think is a sure thing, they would just have a consent wall like for cookies.

Unfortunately it did not stop them from trying over here

Yes, the European Commission said that adblock detection is illegal back in 2016. But they believe it's a legitimate interest, and said that they want to legalize adblock detection in a press statement back in 2017.
Can users still use ad blockers?
The proposal does not regulate the use of ad blockers. Users have the freedom to install software on their devices that disables the display of advertisement. At the same time, the Commission is aware that 'free' content on the internet is often funded by advertisement revenue. Important bit: Therefore, the proposal allows website providers to check if the end-user's device is able to receive their content, including advertisement, without obtaining the end-user's consent. If a website provider notes that not all content can be received by the end-user, it is up to the website provider to respond appropriately, for example by asking end-users if they use an ad-blocker and would be willing to switch it off for the respective website.
Edit: I highlighted where they state that they want to legalize adblock detection.

You can send your own complaint here:
https://forms.dataprotection.ie/contact

I'm not in a position to look into it right now, but is there a part of the EULA that gives consent to detect ad blockers, and would that be good enough for the law referenced?
- Probably not.
  A contract term that is illegal under local laws cannot be enforced.
  If the process they are using to detect adblockers breaches EU laws, they cannot use the EULA to allow them to break the law.
- No, consent can't be hidden in tos

antiblick
We in South Africa rn?

17 comments