Google Was 'Ordered' To Reveal Name, Location, Phone Number Of Some YouTube Viewers To US Authorities: Report

YouTube is a popular video streaming and consumption site across the globe. While it offers a range of options to delete or pause watch history to viewers, the company was recently ordered by US federal investigators to reveal data about viewers of a select group of videos on the platform, according to court orders cited by Forbes.

The US authorities reportedly asked Google for names, locations, and contact numbers of people who watched a select group of videos between January 1-8 last year. According to the report, the authorities plan to identify the person behind the 'elonmuskwhm' online identity who is suspected of selling bitcoin for cash and breaching money laundering laws and unlicensed money transmitting rules.

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Undercover agents had reportedly sent links to videos of mapping using drones and AR software to the user in January and later asked Google for data of the people who watched them. The concerned tutorials reportedly reached a viewership of 30,000. As per the report, the government also urged the tech giant to reveal the IP (Internet Protocol) addresses of people who viewed these videos without a Google account.

It is unclear whether the tech giant disclosed the asked data to the authorities. (Image:Unsplash)

"These records would be relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation, including by providing identification information about the perpetrators," according to the authorities. Google was asked to mark the request as secret until the order was unsealed and the court granted the request. The records do not reveal whether the tech giant disclosed the data to the authorities.

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Matt Bryant, the tech giant's spokesperson, shared that Google has a "rigorous process designed to protect the privacy and constitutional rights" of users while supporting the enforcement. The company examines the legal validity of a demand and responds accordingly. In some cases, it may object to demands entirely.

In another instance cited in the report, the cops had asked Google for accounts who "viewed and/or interacted with" YouTube live streams during a specific time duration. The request was related to made-up bomb threats and the live streaming of police while searching the area on YouTube.