YouTube May Face Criminal Complaints in EU for Using Ad-Block Detection Scripts

A privacy consultant based in Ireland says he is in the process of filing a criminal complaint against YouTube for alleged unlawful surveillance. Specifically, Alexander Hanff’s legal action against the video streaming site is based upon YouTube’s recent controversial enthusiasm for running scripts to detect ad-blocking browser plug-ins. The Register reports that Hanff has already filed a similar complaint regarding Facebook’s collection of data without explicit consent.

The criminal complaints made by Hanff can be seen as a stern follow-up to an earlier privacy fight-back initiative. Two weeks previously he filed a civil complaint about YouTube’s browser extension snooping. However, Hanff sees the criminal complaint route as potentially more effective, as he asserts that “historically, EU regulators have been absolutely terrible at enforcing the ePrivacy Directive.” The criminal complaint route will also protect the privacy consultant from the risks of high costs associated with civil litigation.

Many YouTube watchers have been annoyed by the site probing their browser settings, and popping up warnings with paid subscription adverts, as you can see above. Hanff also has strong opinions about YouTube’s ad-block sniffing activities. “I consider YouTube’s script to be spyware – aka surveillance technology, as it is deployed without my knowledge or authorization to my device for the sole purpose of intercepting and monitoring my behavior,” he explained. All this snooping happens despite Hanff having set the Do Not Track (DNT) option in his browser of choice. Consent for site owners running scripts, analytics, and so on needs to be sought by sites like YouTube and Facebook. Hanff seems to have a strong case, as such consent is required under EU law.

Interestingly, Ireland has its own computer abuse law that will fortify Hanff’s case against the Silicon Valley tech giants. Sections 2 and 5 of this law state that those intentionally accessing information by infringing security measures, or doing so without lawful authority “shall be guilty of an offense.” So, these criminal cases could have a real impact on the sticky data fingers of YouTube and Facebook, at least in Ireland and the wider EU.

Representatives from YouTube and Facebook have yet to respond to the above legal actions.