Google was ordered to identify people who watched certain YouTube videos. Privacy experts say the orders are unconstitutional.

ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 948 points –
Feds Ordered Google To Unmask Certain YouTube Users. Critics Say It’s ‘Terrifying.’
forbes.com

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The court orders show the government telling Google to provide the names, addresses, telephone numbers and user activity for all Google account users who accessed the YouTube videos between January 1 and January 8, 2023. The government also wanted the IP addresses of non-Google account owners who viewed the videos.

“This is the latest chapter in a disturbing trend where we see government agencies increasingly transforming search warrants into digital dragnets. It’s unconstitutional, it’s terrifying and it’s happening every day,” said Albert Fox-Cahn, executive director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. “No one should fear a knock at the door from police simply because of what the YouTube algorithm serves up. I’m horrified that the courts are allowing this.” He said the orders were “just as chilling” as geofence warrants, where Google has been ordered to provide data on all users in the vicinity of a crime.

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It could be, that's definitely true. At some point, you either have to trust something or self-host everything, though.

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