Children have rights: YouTube is now threatened with billions of complaints

The Internet Alphabet group has to deal with a lawsuit with monetary claims amounting to billions. This is triggered by the ongoing processing of user data of minors by the subsidiary YouTube, which is in fact the subject of special protection.

The lawsuit was filed in the UK by data protection activist Duncan McCann, backed by civil rights group Foxglove. According to them, YouTube has systematically ignored UK and EU data protection laws and collected and evaluated data from child users without obtaining parental consent.

According to a report by the Bloomberg News Agency, the company is withdrawing on the grounds that YouTube was not created for users under the age of 13. With YouTube Kids, kids would also have their own app, which better meets the special demands of business relationships and data processing issues.

Claims add up

However, from the activists’ point of view, this offer is more like a fig leaf. It is therefore totally unrealistic to assume that an age clause in the Terms of Service and an alternative app would prevent children from accessing the general YouTube platform on a large scale. From the complainants’ point of view, Alphabet should have ensured that the data of users and, above all, of children was treated with more care. However, this was deliberately avoided as it would restrict the platform’s business model too much.

If the lawsuit is successful, the group could face compensation claims of 100 to 540 euros per child. Since many of Britain’s 5 million children under 13 who live in Britain also access YouTube, requests can quickly run into the billions.

See also:

Youtube, YouTuber, Youtube videos, high dynamic range
Youtube