YouTube is accused of espionage in the EU over targeting ad blockers

Following the YouTube global crackdown on ad blockers, the platform has come under fire for allegedly tracking users and using JavaScript code to detect ad blockers. A privacy advocate has filed a civil complaint against YouTube with the Irish Data Protection Commission. The complaint also scrutinized Meta over collecting users’ data without consent and targeting ad blockers.

Privacy consultant Alexander Hanff alleges that YouTube uses JavaScript code to detect which viewer uses ad blockers, then disables the video until the ad blocker is off. The platform allows users to either buy a Premium subscription or continue watching videos with ads, which is very annoying. YouTube already announced that using ad blockers violates its Terms of Service.

A privacy advocate in Ireland files a civil complaint against YouTube and Meta over targeting ad blockers

While YouTube is expanding its crackdown against ad blockers, the parent company Google sponsors an ad blocking summit and even offers to work closely with ad blocker developers. Google Chrome lead developers who attended the Ad-Filtering Dev Summit in Amsterdam announced adding a new privacy and security category to the Chrome web store to help users find ad-blocking extensions more easily.

The civil complaint also accuses Meta of collecting user’s data and tracking their behavior for the past five years. Hanff claims Meta used this information to target users with personalized ads.

In recent years, the EU and Big Tech have gone head to head over handling user’s data and targeting them with ads. The regulators always believe tech firms such as Apple, Google, and Meta use their dominance to collect personal data without obtaining consent from users. Multiple lawsuits against these companies were filed to make them pay a sum of money in fines- thanks to the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The disputes with the EU even prevented Meta from launching the Threads app to European customers. Similarly, Apple plans to appeal for the inclusion of iMessage and App Store as gatekeeper services. The EU’s DMA is a set of strict rules that aims to keep Big Tech accountable for its business practices. DMA might also force Apple to allow for app sideloading in iOS.