Related: Google just knows who YouTube users are, and can unmask them at will. They definitely won’t fix anything to make people safer from that on their platform.
As soon as Google bought YouTube they knew who the users were and everything they did online. This was never not true. Their business is to log all the activity of all internet users, not to make them safe or happy, there is nothing broken in their platform as far as they are concerned.
I don’t know why anyone is using youtube directly when they can use Newpipe or Freetube. No ads, sponsorblock and even the ability to automatically skip intros, recaps etc On top of that no google account tracking or algorithms.
Edit: Adding “libretube” as well based on some of the replies to this comment.
Because the average person doesn’t have a clue and they never think about this kind of thing. I’ve been called a conspiracy theorist by my own father as well as othesr for mentioning Snowden revalatins and using a VPN and all the privacy steps I take on the web.
After all Snowdon went through, it pisses me off when people say you’re a conspiracy theorist just by citing the reporting that came from the whistle he blew
Propaganda worked on those people. I remember the news back then, it all focused on Snowden himself, rather than the revelations. Lots and lots of FUD in the opinion shows, all the talking heads were spending the bulk of their time opining on him, instead
Like the fact he left the us to escape prosecution, his landing in Russia. Remember they even tracked down his girlfriend or something ridiculous? I know I’m forgetting some of it. Anyway all that crap was designed to shift people’s focus away from looking into his proof, and towards doubting the intentions of the person providing it. And boy, did it.
It worked, on a lot of people.
I still hear folks call him a traitor to this day, and they always parrot the FUD talking points i remember from back then to a T.
Forgive me if you already know this but VPNs are just someone else’s computer. It’s good for preventing your ISP from snooping but you give that visibility to whoever operates the VPN so you’re definitely trusting them not to be malicious.
Well aware. And I trust Proton more than my local ISP.
Love me some proton
Wao, this push against VPNs is getting ridiculous. We’re all well aware that most VPNs are not private. But using a VPN has it’s advantages. Geoblocked media, ISP snooping, and many other things you can circumvent. Not all VPNs are private, and even those we believe to be private, most users have to subscribe over trust alone, as we have no way of knowing if they really are or if what they describe as how they operate is true or not. But using a VPN sure beats just leaving your browsing visible to your ISP and local government.
Its someone else’s computer, but where your traffic is mixed with a ton of other people’s traffic coming out of that computer. Essentially you’re mixing your traffic with others. And youre often coming out of another countey with better privacy laws thsn your country. That has value in a number of ways.
I would love to but I mainly watch YouTube and other video content on my living room TV. That’s probably a barrier for a lot of us.
This is it for me. Easier to get YouTube family thing and now my family doesn’t have ads and doesn’t have to root a phone to install the other apps. If it was just me, sure. I have another 4 people in my life that are hard work when it comes to tech and I have other things to do with my time.
I use Newpipe on an Nvidia shield in my living room.
If you have some kind of Android TV device you can probably install SmartTube to have no ads and sponsorblock: https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTubeNext
Or Playlet on Roku.
My mom uses YouTube - she’s 80. My son uses YouTube- he’s 8. This is the internet now.
The open source, privacy evangelist types, who root their phones and self host nextcloud are a tiny minority.
After hearing about Freetube, I finally set it up and was all on board, got it configured and then was deflated to see it apparently has no queue function? I use that feature on YouTube so much that I just had to stop using it pretty much immediately.
If I somehow overlooked that or it comes in a later development stage, I’d happily move to it exclusively.
FYI Queue/OnTheFly Playlists are already in the Feature Request list according to github, pog
Excellent, thanks for the heads up. Can’t wait to ditch the site.
Already merged, probably in next major version.
There is a bit missing with auto discovery on these frontends, which makes sense…if it doesn’t track what you watch, it can’t recommend things. Most have related videos though, so you’re not just stuck with your subscriptions.
Think you meant this for someone else. I see lack of suggestion algos as a good thing.
Oh, I think I misunderstood what you meant by queue function. I get it now, the ability to pick a bunch of videos and have them play through, not a recommendations queue.
I use NewPipe for this. Its great for queuing up music
no suggestions, horrible ui and ux
Try libretube. It’s more UX-y. I personally like the simplicity of Newpipe but I can get why it’s not for everyone.
and for suggestions? i want an homepage that welcomes me when i open the app, that says you could watch this or that, continue watching this or maybe u would like this other one
I think libretube has that.
last time i checked it didn’t have that
Not having a home page where I get new content based on what I watch is a pretty strong point, the mayority of people find new channels based on that
This is where I differ. I think the algos and video recommendations are manipulative. I simply watch whatever is new from my subscribed channels and occasionally something from the related video section. Even if cared about recommendations there is no way I would value it more than the other benefits.
All that being said check out Libretube. I think it has the recommendations on the homepage.
Perhaps, but there are often related videos which provide a similar sort of discovery. One of the main points of these frontends is that they don’t track what you watch. If they don’t do that, they can’t recommend videos.
Dunno, I prefer Lemmy comms for that
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I’ve used the aforementioned applications for years and have never had issues finding relevant content. I get recommendations from friends, related videos and blogs etc
Either because they’ve never heard of it, they think it’s difficult to set up, or they think it’s less polished or reliable.
I’d go with “because they’ve never heard of it”. It’s no more difficult to setup than any other application. See the download page.
Oh, it’s not, they just think it is. I have personal experience of this.
Are you saying it’s not easy to install? If so, what’s the difficulty?
I’m saying it is easy to install, but people think it isn’t.
Ah, gotcha. Yeah, not sure what can be done to improve that. Installation methods are only a click away 🤷
viewers of select YouTube videos
So, now a policeman who doesn’t like whoever YT user can unseal who that is… For a far-right policeman that can be anybody whose comment looks “woke”.
I think I shouldn’t use YT anymore. Actually, any SNS that uses my email…
Edit: they collected user identities on who watched videos on fucking “drones”.
You know that ?si= at the end of the YouTube URL that is copied when you share a video from within the YouTube app?
That’s an individual tracking ID specific to you. So if you’ve ever shared a YouTube video on lemmy, reddit, Facebook, tiktok, or anywhere else without removing that code one time, anyone at Google with access to the ID system can now link you to that account with your real name, IP address and time accessed, device name, etc.
While I see that x10,000 with google links, I don’t recall I’ve ever seen it for YT videos.
As a google user, what… what am I doing wrong? 😕
As a google user, what… what am I doing
wrongright?Using a browser instead of the YouTube app?
Unless you’re talking about Google links then yes. Amazon too, along with many other services. There’s a ClearURLs Firefox add-on to remove them automatically.
But it’s insidious with YouTube because people are much more likely to share YouTube videos on a public forum, and they just randomly started doing it one day.
Using a browser instead of the YouTube app?
Bingo. I’m using Chrome app on WinX desktop. (and yes, I’m a total idiot who’s taken too long to switch over to FF & linux)
Amazon too, along with many other services. There’s a ClearURLs Firefox add-on to remove them automatically.
Cool. Myself, I just manually clear that tracking rubbish in the URL field, but I get that such is way easier on desktop browser.
You’re using Google, that’s about as wrong as it gets in the privacy space.
And I’m also using Gmail! :S
So just for gits & shiggles-- how badly would you say I might be hurt by my foolishness, at this rate?Btw, Nebula-- are you able to federate back and forth with Mastodon & Lemmy as a single stream? I’d love to see that.
@JohnnyEnzyme @Synnr
Yes I can federate well from mastodon to Lemmy. It is very cool!
@Synnr @JohnnyEnzyme what do you mean by right?
You’re using Google, that’s about as wrong as it gets in the privacy space.
But OK, let’s say your threat model allows for use of Google in specific circumstances. You should set up your account in an isolated browser container in hardened Firefox, and only use it for YouTube. No other browsing in that container. Use a VPN maybe?
Then idk sip some more koolaid and pat yourself on the back.
User asked why they never see &si= on their links on Android. @Synnr said they may be copying the link from the browser, which suggests they don’t even have the YouTube app installed, as it ‘never happens to them.’
@Synnr ah I see I’m being stupid.
Have a good day all involved :welp:
I have used NewPipe, UntrackMe and URL Checker for years at this point, and have maintained URL sanitisation practice for probably over a decade. Enjoy the powerlessness, feds. I do not even open YouTube website to watch videos.
You expect a cop to understand both the threat and entertainment value of a Defcon talk?
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I think it’s unrealistic for now.
Peertube works for organizations like Blender because they completely retain the copyright. Other than that, video hosting is too expensive and gains little audience in the first place.
Fortunately you can use YouTube without an account
Even better, use an alternative frontend
TBH I’m still surprised that Google still allows this…
I think it they auth walled YT they would see a huge drop in usage (see G+)
No one should fear a knock at the door from police simply because of what the YouTube algorithm serves up
No one should fear a no-knock warrant from a SWAT team because of what the YouTube algorithm serves up.
FIFY.
Most police departments don’t bother with doorknocking anymore.
It would be less terrifying if Google had any human employees left.
Honestly, I would trust damn near any rogue AI more than the humans any of these companies will hire any more. The more it wants to kill us as opposed to torturing us or milking us for money, the better, although I woudd prefer it not also hate nature … but that’s optional next to what we have now.
There are tons of front-ends and desktop clients out there, even watch YT sandboxed in Andisearch is an option.
