Google ordered to identify users who watched certain YouTube videos – ExBulletin
Privacy experts said the order represents unconstitutional overreach by the government.
Federal investigators have ordered Google to provide information about all viewers of some YouTube videos, according to multiple court orders obtained by Forbes. Privacy experts from several civil rights groups told Forbes that they believe the order is unconstitutional because it threatens to frame innocent YouTube viewers as criminal suspects.
A Kentucky case investigated by Forbes had just been unsealed, with undercover authorities trying to identify the person behind the online name Elon Muskweem. The person is suspected of selling Bitcoin for cash, potentially violating money laundering laws and regulations regarding unauthorized transfers.
In conversations with users in early January, undercover agents sent links to YouTube tutorials on creating maps using drones and augmented reality software, and gave Google information about who viewed the videos. In total, the video has been viewed more than 30,000 times.
In the court order, the government directs Google to provide the names, addresses, phone numbers, and user activity of all Google account users who accessed YouTube videos from January 1, 2023 to January 8, 2023. It has been shown that The government also wanted IP addresses other than Google. Account owner who viewed the video. Police claimed they had reason to believe these records were relevant and important to ongoing criminal investigations, including providing identifying information about perpetrators.
You don’t have to fear the police knocking on your door just because YouTube’s algorithm works.
Albert Fox-Cahn, Executive Director, Surveillance Technology Oversight Project
The court granted the order, and Google was ordered to keep the request, which was obtained by Forbes earlier this week, secret until it is unsealed. Court records do not indicate whether Google provided data in the case.
In another example involving an investigation in New Hampshire, Portsmouth police received a threat from an unknown man who said explosives were placed in a trash can in a public area. Police searched the area and discovered it was being monitored by a YouTube livestream camera associated with a local business, the order said. Federal investigators believe similar incidents are occurring across the country, with bomb threats made and police monitoring via YouTube.
They asked Google to provide a list of accounts that watched or interacted with eight YouTube live streams during a specified time period, along with associated identifying information. That included a video posted by Boston & Main Live, which has 130,000 subscribers. Mike McCormack, who founded the company behind the account, IP Time Lapse, said he was aware of the order, adding that it was related to a swatting incident directed at camera footage at the time. Ta.
Again, it’s unclear whether Google provided the data.
Google spokesperson Matt Bryant said, In response to any law enforcement request, we have a system designed to protect the privacy and constitutional rights of our users while supporting the important work of law enforcement.” There is a rigorous process. We are reviewing the legal validity of each claim as the case develops. We regularly push back against overbroad or inappropriate requests for user data, including opposing some requests outright.
The Department of Justice had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Privacy experts said the order was unconstitutional because it threatened to rescind First and Fourth Amendment protections for free speech and freedom from unreasonable searches. This is the latest chapter in a disturbing trend in which government agencies are increasingly turning search warrants into digital dragnets. Albert Foxkahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, said this is unconstitutional, it’s horrifying, and it happens every day. You don’t have to fear the police knocking on your door just because YouTube’s algorithm works. I am appalled that the court is allowing this.
He said the order is as chilling as the geofencing warrant, in which Google is ordered to provide data on all users near crime scenes. In December, Google announced an update that would make it technically impossible for the tech giant to provide information in response to geofencing orders. Earlier, a California court had ruled that geofencing warrants targeting some of Los Angeles’ most populated areas were unconstitutional, raising concerns that the court would halt police searches of the data. Expectations were high.
John Davison, senior adviser at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said what we see online can reveal highly sensitive information about our politics, passions, religious beliefs and more. It is reasonable to expect that law enforcement will not be able to access that information without a valid reason. This order overturns that assumption.
