YouTube remains the number one video streaming platform in the world today, having more than a million viewers that tune in to various channels as well as YouTubers every day. YouTube, owned by Google, is not just popular among the younger generation but to people of all ages.
YouTube is the best place to search for different videos about education, entertainment, product demonstrations, and all sorts of stuff that you can imagine. With more than a million channels that are currently running in its platform, YouTube always gives its users something very fresh to watch. To put it simply, YouTube is a social media and a video streaming platform that is very user-friendly and very accessible.
How does YouTube’s Privacy Policy work?
YouTube’s privacy policy is the same as Google’s privacy policy, considering that the latter owned this massive video streaming platform. When you use YouTube’s services, you are virtually entrusting them with your information and data.
Its privacy policy is mainly focused on understanding the information and data they collect, use, update, delete, export, and manage your information. Google built a range of services to aid millions of users each day in exploring and interacting with their different services that include:
- Google applications such as YouTube, sites, devices, Google Home, and Google Search.
- Platforms like Google Chrome and its Android OS
- Products that are used to integrate third-party applications and websites such as ads and Google Maps that are embedded.
Users can utilize these services in different ways for their privacy management. For example, if the user signs up for their own Google account, and if they want to make and manage content like photos or emails, or to view any relevant results from Google’s search engine.
The user can also choose to browse the internet in a more private environment through the Incognito mode that can also be applied to YouTube video streaming.
The type of Info that YouTube/Google Collects
Google wants its users to fully comprehend the different types of information that they collect and use for the services they offer. They collect info in providing a much better service for all its users. This ranges from figuring out the most basic stuff, such as language to the very complex stuff that users find very useful. The information that Google collects and also how the information is utilized always depends on how users use their services and how they manage their privacy controls.
Google determines the unique identifiers that are tied to the user’s browser and application or the device that they are using in collecting data regardless if they are signed in or signed out to help the user maintain their preferences and their language during their browsing or streaming sessions with YouTube.
The Reason of why Google/YouTube Collects Data
According to Google, they use the data from their users to come up with better services. They use these data from all their services, including YouTube, for many purposes such as:
- Providing services to their users
- Maintaining and improving all their services
- To develop brand new services
- To create a more personalized service for its users that includes ads and contents
- To measure the performance of their services
- To build communication with their users
- To provide security to their users and the public
Information Sharing in Google’s Services Such as YouTube
If the user shares their information, many services let them share it with other users, and the user themselves have control over their information. For example, users can freely share the videos they watch on YouTube publicly, or they can decide to make these videos for private keeping. Always remember that whenever you share information with the public, the content will be accessed through Google’s search engine.
If the user is signed in, and there’s an interaction with Google’s services such as commenting on a video from YouTube, the user’s name and photo will be posted as well. This will be displayed along with the info and the ads depending on the endorsements that are shared through the settings.
How to Keep your Info Secured?
YouTube and Google’s security are built around to protect the user’s information. All of Google’s products and services, including YouTube, are made with very strong security features that continue to secure all of the user’s information. Google’s insight that is gained from maintaining its services can help detect and instantly block any threats from reaching its users. And if any detected threats pose a risk to the user, they are informed about it right away and will be notifying the user about it by providing a guide or steps to improve their security and protection.
Google protects its users from any unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or the destruction of information that it holds that includes the following.
- Using encryption technology to keep the user’s data private while being transited.
- Offering a wide range of features for security such as Security Checkup, Safe browsing, and verification steps to protect the user’s account further.
- Reviewing the information they collect, they store, and the process that includes physical security measures in preventing any unauthorized access to their system.
- It has restricted access to any personal information to the contractors, agents, and employees in Google that need the information to process it.
How Can a User Retain their Information?
Google retains any form of data they collect for different timelines depending on how they use it, what type of data it is, and how they configure the user’s settings. Several data that the user can delete whenever they feel too includes the video they uploaded and created on YouTube.
YouTube and Google ensure their users that they regularly review their Privacy Policy to make sure that they process the information of their users that comply with it.
How does this Privacy Policy Apply?
This privacy policy is applied to all Google services along with its affiliates that include YouTube and any third-party sites that offered their services, including advertising services. This privacy policy does not entirely apply to the services that separately have its privacy policies and does not incorporate any of them.
Google and YouTube’s privacy policy is not applied to the information that is used to practice other companies and the organizations that are being advertised to their services. The services that are offered from other companies or individuals that include products or websites that can include Google’s services should be displayed in the search results or has a link from their services.
Changes in their policy can happen without any scheduled timeline. This will not affect the rights of the user under their privacy policy without any consent explicitly. Google will always indicate the most recent dates of their privacy policy changes or amendments that are published and archived for all their users to view and review.
Conclusion
YouTube has a constantly changing privacy policy guidelines that both affect users and content creators. With this in mind, it is extremely important to check for any updates of it to make sure that everyone is sticking with the guidelines and prevent any repercussions that may affect the experience in using this very popular platform.
