Recent reports suggest that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) can request Google to share data on users who have watched certain videos on YouTube. As per a court document that has not been made public, Google has disclosed information such as IP address, name, address, phone numbers, and user activities of the YouTube account that viewed specific videos to the FBI. This disclosure was part of an extensive criminal investigation where the FBI was tracking viewers of a video posted on YouTube by an account named “elonmuskwhm.” The video was created by the FBI as part of its operation to track criminals involved in virtual money laundering.
The video content was related to a “drone mapping and augmented reality software tutorial video” in a conversation with a Bitcoin trader. It has been viewed over 30,000 times, including thousands of views from users unrelated to the investigation. As per the court documents, Google was secretly ordered by the FBI to share the personal information of users who viewed the video between January 1 and January 8, 2023. However, the documents do not confirm whether Google has agreed to share users’ personal information or not.
Privacy experts have raised concerns about this request to hand over data, and they fear that it could set a precedent. The FBI, on the other hand, justified the move, stating that it was legal and necessary to provide identifying information about the perpetrators in connection with an ongoing criminal investigation. Google has claimed that it has a rigorous system in place, which is designed to meet the needs of all law enforcement agencies while protecting the privacy and legal rights of its users. Nonetheless, privacy advocates have urged Google to be more transparent about its data-sharing policies.