Complaint about personal data on Youtube 

Youtube is the world’s most popular video platform, where users posting thousands of videos of different content every day. 

And of course, where there is a lot of content and various information, there are also a lot of violations of the law. In this article we will talk about the most popular violation of the law on the Youtube platform – publishing personal data. 

We will also give working instructions on how to delete such a video. We will work through the Youtube administration and will tell you about this in detail. 

What is personal data from a legal point of view? 

Of course, the question arises of what personal data is if our article is written for citizens from different countries, and they have different legislation. 

We answer. There is a universal principle on how to determine what is personal data. 

Personal data is information that allows you to identify a person. That is, if there is a video and it shows a person’s name and address, or name and phone number or other data, then other users can understand what kind of person this is and this is personal data. 

The laws of most countries provide exactly this definition of personal data. 

From this, we can determine that there is a list of personal data: 

1. First and last name; 
2. Address; 
3. Image of a person; 
4. Phone number, email; 
5. Cookies; 
6. Date of Birth; 
7. Information about health and social status; 
8. Education. 

This is not a complete list. As we said, it is important that the information allows the person to be identified. 

Official Youtube Policy 

The Youtube company is registered in the USA, where its office is located. However, since the platform has users all over the world, it recognizes and respects the laws of all countries. 

“If someone has posted your personal information or uploaded a video of you without your permission (including one filmed in a private setting or in a sensitive situation), contact that person and ask them to remove the video. If an agreement cannot be reached or you do not want to contact the user, please file a complaint based on a violation of YouTube’s privacy policies.” 

“In order for you to be uniquely identified in a video, there must be sufficient personal information about you in the video.” 

This is exactly what Youtube’s official rules on personal data sound like. 

In other words, if a user finds a video that violates his rights, then the Youtube administration will help remove this video. 

Instructions for users 

1.1. We write to the user who posted the video 

First, you should try to resolve the dispute without complaining to the Youtube administration. To do this, you need to contact the user who posted the video. 

Watch the video, links under the video, the user’s channel, links in the description, find information to contact the user. This could be social networks, emails, etc. 

There is also a more formal appeal to the user – a legal claim. To do this, you already need to find the user’s identification data. 

In this case, in a dialogue with the user, describe your position, provide a link to the law that the user violated by publishing the video. It is also worth noting that if he does not delete the video, there will already be a complaint to the Youtube administration with consequences for his content. 

Complaint to Youtube administration 

Ways to contact Youtube 

If the user refused to delete the video or did not respond to your message, then move on to the main part of our instructions – a complaint to the administration of the video platform. 

There are two ways to contact Youtube administration. We can use the official form on the Youtube website, (Other legal complaint). 

Follow the link, select the country below and click “Fill out the form”. 

Users also have the opportunity to write their complaint to the official Youtube email. In some situations, this allows you to draw the attention of the administration to your problem. 

The video platform belongs to Google, which means you can write to this company’s email. 

We are writing a complaint 

So, we have found ways to write to the Youtube administration. Now let’s talk about the important points of our complaint. 

There are several aspects to the structure: 

1. Description of our position; 
2. Evidence; 
3. Requirements. 

Also, do not forget about the details of the complaint. 

First, the user must tell what happened in the complaint. 

We note the facts that the user posted a video that contains personal data, we did not agree to publish our data, then we contacted the user and received a refusal. 

It is also necessary to write the dates when this all happened so that the administration understands the whole situation. How the administration of the video platform will understand us depends on the description of our situation. 

The second important part of our complaint is the evidence. We are talking about facts that prove our position and that the video was published unlawfully. 

We must write the rules of law of the country that the user violated. As we have already said, in most countries personal data is information that allows you to identify a person. And the law in most countries prohibits the publication of personal data without consent. 

Next, we must prove the following facts to the Youtube administration: 

1. That the video contains your personal data; 
2. That this is your personal data. In other words, you need to confirm your identity. The Youtube administration may ask you to send your photo with your passport for this purpose. 
3. It is worth paying special attention to the first point. We can give the Youtube administration a time code where personal data is visible. The important thing is that you can be identified from a fragment of the video, if you simply appeared in the frame for a couple of seconds, then this is not enough. Each situation must be evaluated individually. 

The result of working with the Youtube administration also depends on the quality of the evidence. 

After some time, the platform will respond to your complaint. The administration can delete the video, give the author time to delete or change the video, or even block the author’s channel. (It all depends on the situation). 

Conclusion 

Any video that violates the law on personal data requires a qualified legal expertise. Working with the Youtube administration will also be faster and better when handled by a qualified lawyer. 

We offer you help in deleting videos through a complaint to the Youtube administration: 

1. We have extensive experience working with the Youtube administration; 
2. No matter where you are, Youtube respects the laws of all countries and will help us remove videos.