Google told to hand over YouTube users’ data

More privacy concerns to be considered.

Via: FT.com

Google has run into a fresh storm over online privacy after a US judge ordered YouTube, its online video site, to hand over records detailing the viewing habits of its millions of users.

The ruling came in response to a demand by Viacom, the media and entertainment group that owns MTV, which last year filed a $1bn (£504m) lawsuit against YouTube alleging copyright infringement.

The order will force YouTube to hand over computer logs that contain information that could be used to identify the videos viewed by YouTube users and, potentially, the computers on which they were viewed.

Google said the data would be restricted to lawyers and outside experts advising Viacom.

Kurt Opsahl, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online civil rights group, called the move a “setback to privacy rights”.

He said that disclosing the information could violate privacy laws, unless it was stripped of information that could tie videos to individual users.

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