Google is reportedly ordered to provide private information of certain YouTube users to authorities without their knowledge or permission, according to recently unsealed documents obtained by Forbes.
According to court documents from Kentucky, federal investigators are able to obtain actual names, addresses, telephone numbers, and internet activity of certain YouTube accounts viewing planted videos from Jan. 1 to Jan. 8, 2023.
(Photo : Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)
The videos in question are supposed YouTube tutorials for mapping via drones, augmenting virtual reality software to devices, and even some YouTube live streams.
The Department of Justice has yet to respond regarding the just-released documents. It also remains uncertain if Google itself provided authorities with the data.
Also Read: Using Incognito Mode in Chrome is Not as Private as You Think
Google Blasted Over Potential Data Privacy Violations
Sounds like dystopian criminal profiling? Probably because it is.
Privacy experts told the investigators' action threatens to violate people's rights under the First and Fourth Amendments.
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a digital watchdog against increased government surveillance, accused the US government of "transforming search warrants into digital dragnets."
Google has earlier been scrutinized for geofencing private user data, or providing authorities location history of certain users via its Map app.
The tech giant announced last December that it has already stopped collecting users' location history on Google-related products in an effort to prevent users' data from being accessed.
If the court documents are indeed pointing to Google, the tech giant might face
Related Article: Google No Longer Collecting Users' Location History on Maps App
State Surveillance Increase Via Social Media
Amid the US government's insistence on foreign adversaries accessing Americans' data through social media, state authorities have been reported on multiple occasions of spying on its citizens.
Digital media advocate, Brennan Center for Justice, reported cases of federal authorities sharing private and sensitive information of US citizens obtained from social platforms being shared with other departments.
Although authorities are not exactly allowed to do so, a Supreme Court order must first be issued before US officials can act.
In many previous cases, however, state agents have been noted for bypassing the Court order and possibly elevating risks "posed by its thinly regulated and growing use in various contexts."
