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The court orders show the government telling Google to provide the names, addresses, telephone numbers and user activity for all Google account users who accessed the YouTube videos between January 1 and January 8, 2023. The government also wanted the IP addresses of non-Google account owners who viewed the videos.

“This is the latest chapter in a disturbing trend where we see government agencies increasingly transforming search warrants into digital dragnets. It’s unconstitutional, it’s terrifying and it’s happening every day,” said Albert Fox-Cahn, executive director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. “No one should fear a knock at the door from police simply because of what the YouTube algorithm serves up. I’m horrified that the courts are allowing this.” He said the orders were “just as chilling” as geofence warrants, where Google has been ordered to provide data on all users in the vicinity of a crime.

  • Ignacio
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    78 months ago

    Is this measure worldwide, or only for United States?

    • Echo Dot
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      48 months ago

      In the first line of the article

      Federal investigators have ordered Google to provide information on all viewers of select YouTube videos

      Federal, so yeah just the US for now.

      • @barsoap@lemm.ee
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        -48 months ago

        The US isn’t the only federation in the world but it’s Forbes so yes of course it’s the US.