Is YouTube's Terms of Service safe?

Top concerning points

1. 1.

   They store data on you even if you did not interact with the service

   blocker

   High

   Some services store data on you even if you did not provide that data yourself. For example, users might provide access to their address book, after which a service might also store the phone numbers of that person's contacts.

2. 2.

   This service still tracks you even if you opted out from tracking

   blocker

   High

   Users can’t fully opt out of tracking technologies used for non essential purposes such as advertising, marketing or analytics. The user may be asked for consent for installing some tracking technologies on the device, and even if all are rejected the service will still track its visitors and ignore the choice.This case doesn’t apply to functional cookies that are necessary to provide the services.

3. 3.

   Your personal data is used for automated decision-making, profiling or AI training

   blocker

   High

   Personal data or content you share with the service may be processed to make decisions by automated means without human involvement. This includes profiling, which is any form of automated processing of your information to analyse or predict things like your economic situation, health, personal preferences or interests; as well as Artificial Intelligence training.

4. 4.

   Sensitive data is collected and shared to target advertising

   blocker

   High

   Sensitive data refers to information requiring special protection, such as health data, political and religious beliefs, ethnic origins, sexual life and financial information. The service collects and shares this data with third parties for advertising or marketing.

5. 5.

   Some personal data may be kept for business interests or legal obligations

   bad

   High

   After the end of the data retention period and/or if you request the deletion of your data, they may still keep it for business interests (fraud detection, transactions...) or legal obligations (tax, legal reporting...)

   Source quote / document
6. 6.

   Per the service's terms, you may not express negative opinions about them

   bad

   High

   Criticising, questioning, making objections or complaints about the Service, its staff or anything related to it is prohibited and constitutes a breach of the Terms.

7. 7.

   Your personal data may be sold or otherwise transferred as part of a bankruptcy proceeding or other type of financial transaction

   bad

   High

   If the service gets acquired or is involved in a merger, bankruptcy, reorganisation or sale, your personal data may be transferred or sold.

8. 8.

   Instead of asking directly, this Service will assume your consent to changes of terms merely from your usage

   bad

   High

   The Service infers your acceptance from your continued usage, instead of prompting you to read the new Terms and asking for direct consent. This doesn’t apply to services that have no way to seek consent from users through their contact details or an account.

Frequently asked questions

What is YouTube's ToS;DR privacy grade?

ToS;DR rates YouTube as Grade E. Grades range from A (best) to E (worst). See the full breakdown on ToS;DR.

Is YouTube's Terms of Service safe?

ToS;DR's Grade E means the terms raise serious concerns. Read the blocker and bad points carefully before accepting.

What is a top concern in YouTube's terms?

They store data on you even if you did not interact with the service — Some services store data on you even if you did not provide that data yourself. For example, users might provide access to their address book, after which a service might also store the phone numbers of that person's contacts. (Source: ToS;DR approved point).

Where can I read YouTube's official terms?

ToS;DR tracks "Terms of Service" at https://www.youtube.com/t/terms. Always prefer the official document over summaries.