Be careful watching videos on YouTube, Google can report it to the police

Be careful watching videos on YouTube, Google can report it to the police

Be careful watching videos on YouTube, Google can report it to the police

 - Opening and watching certain videos on YouTube can actually have a big impact. In documents seen by Forbes, Google was ordered to hand over the names, addresses, telephone numbers, IP addresses and activities of YouTube users who accessed certain videos. 

Because, it is suspected that people who watched certain videos were involved in the investigation of a large criminal syndicate by federal investigators in the United States (US). 

Apparently, there were 'trap' videos uploaded by the police undercover to lure out cryptocurrency money launderers with the username 'elonmuskwhm'. 

Investigators sent a public link to a tutorial video on YouTube that maps augmented reality (AR) software via drones, quoted from Forbes, Monday (25/3/2024). 

The video was viewed more than 30,000 times. It is strongly suspected that thousands of viewers were not involved in this criminal case. 

However, Google, which is YouTube's parent company, was ordered by federal investigators to hand over viewers' personal data from January 1-8 2023. 

Forbes did not receive confirmation whether Google complied with the order or not. However, Google said it has strict mechanisms to ensure the security of user privacy

"With all law enforcement lawsuits, we have a rigorous process designed to protect the privacy and constitutional rights of our users while supporting the important work of law enforcement," Google spokesman Matt Bryant told Forbes. 

"We check each request for legal validity, consistent with evolving case law, and we routinely reject requests for user data that are too broad or inappropriate, including denying certain requests entirely," he emphasized. 

The order to hand over data from the police has worried privacy experts. However, federal investigators requested this data to be legal because it was relevant to the criminal case investigation process. 

"This is the latest chapter in a disturbing trend in which we see government agencies increasingly turning search warrants into requests for personal data in the digital realm," said Albert Fox-Cahn, Executive Director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.