Privacy

Privacy campaigner Duncan McCann has filed a legal case accusing YouTube of selling the data of children using their service to advertisers in contravention of EU and UK law The case was lodged with the UK High Court in July and is the first of its kind in Europe.

It is understood that Google will strongly dispute the claim. One of its arguments is that the main YouTube platform is not intended for those under 13, who should be using the YouTube Kids app, which incorporates more safeguards.

Google is also expected to point to a series of changes that it introduced last year to improve notification to parents, limit data collection and restrict personalised adverts.

The case seeks compensation of £500 payable to those whose data was breached. But crucially it would set a precedent, potentially making YouTube liable for payouts to the estimated five million children in Britain who use the site as well as their parents or guardians.

McCann said:

It cannot be right that Google can take children's private data without explicit permission and then sell it to advertisers to target children. I believe it is only through legal action and damages that these companies will change their behaviour, and it is only through a class action that we can fight these companies on an equal basis.

The case, which focuses on children who have watched YouTube since May 2018 when the Data Protection Act became law, is backed by digital privacy campaigners Foxglove, and the global law firm Hausfeld. The case is not expected to come to court before next autumn and has been underwritten by Vannin Capital, a company which will take a cut of any compensation that remains unclaimed. The action will also depend on the outcome of another data and privacy case against Google which does not cover children.

Apple has delayed the implementation of new privacy measures designed to stop apps and websites tracking people online without their consent. The proposed policy means that apps will have to ask a user's permission to access the ad-tracking ID on an iPhone or iPad. This permission will be set to off be default.

In addition, apps will have to declare what data they collect and how they track people in Apple's App Store. Another new security feature will highlight when an app accesses information on the user's clipboard. (TikTok for instance has been caught continually scanning the paste buffer, even when in background and hence being able to capture other apps' passwords held in password managers).

The measures were due to arrive in the latest iOS 14 update in the autumn. But Apple said the changes were being delayed until the start of 2021 to give app developers and websites more time to adapt their services.

Facebook has warned that Apple's privacy plan could make one of its advertising tools so ineffective on iOS 14 that it may not make sense to offer it on iOS 14.