Privacy campaigner Alexander Hanff says that YouTube’s new ad blocker detection is illegal under European law, and he’s taking the fight to the European Commission.
YouTube began rolling out ad block detection to Europe in early October and is now preventing some European users from viewing its content if they have an ad blocker enabled. The EU’s ePrivacy Directive requires online service providers to get explicit permission to obtain information about a user’s system configuration. Hanff, an expert adviser to the European Data Protection Board, says that YouTube’s use of JavaScript-based detection scripts is subject to that requirement and is failing to abide by it.
In a complaint lodged with Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), Hanff called on the DPC to “take action against YouTube … for this breach of the law and demand YouTube cease their unlawful deployment of adblocker detection tools.”
Hanff, who helped to draft the forthcoming update to the EU’s ePrivacy regulations, describes YouTube’s JavaScript as spyware.
“The script that [YouTube] deploys is detecting what software people are running on their machines or what behavior their browser is exhibiting in relation to their private activities. It’s not okay. It’s illegal,” Hanff says. “We have a fundamental right to privacy under Article 7 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. We have a fundamental right to data protection under Article 8.”
YouTube started implementing anti-ad-blocking measures in May 2023, and in June was still describing its ad blocker detection as a “test.” European users have reported seeing detection messages since early October. Not every user is affected, and you’ll see these ad blocker messages only if you’re signed in to your YouTube account.
When YouTube detects an ad blocker or other privacy tool that blocks ads as part of its functions, you’ll see a warning stating that “Ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service” or “Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube.” There are a few different versions of this message, including some that entirely prevent you from playing videos and others that allow you to view a number of videos with your blocker enabled before streaming is blocked.
A pop-up asking you to turn off your ad blocker is hardly an unusual sight on the internet, but could it be against the law?
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