Google-Viacom Update: Will Your Information Be Protected?
By Anna Johnson on July 16th, 2008Previously we reported that the U.S. federal judge presiding over Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit against Google, had ordered Google to hand over YouTube user data to Viacom.
The problem with that order? It meant that the User IDs and IP addresses of everyone with a YouTube account - yes, YOU and ME - would have personally identifying data given to Viacom.
Well, you’ll be relieved to know that under a new order Google will now be allowed to substitute each user’s User ID and IP address with a unique, but anonymous, identifier. Although not perfect, this should make it much more difficult for Viacom to ascertain any particular YouTube user’s identity.
Sources: Anna Johnson, “Google To Hand Over YouTube User Data To Viacom”, Kikabink News, July 5, 2008, , Michael Arrington, “Google/Viacom Agree To Preserve User Anonymity In Data Shakedown”, Tech Crunch, July 14, 2008
Tags: 1 Billion, Anonymity, Article Sources, Crunch, Federal Judge, Google, Ids, Ip Address, Ip Addresses, July 14, Michael Arrington, Viacom, Youtube
