Privacy Advocate Files Data Protection Complaint That YouTube's AdBlocker Blocker … – Techdirt.

from the blocking-the-blocking-blockers dept Over the last few weeks, YouTube has been cracking down on YouTube adblockers, blocking users who are using such adblockers (or, in some cases, disabling extensions). There are still some ways around it, but apparently it’s becoming more difficult. Here at Techdirt, we’ve always been pro-adblocker (even though we sometimes have ads on the site, for years, we’ve let you turn off ads on Techdirt — and unlike most sites, we don’t even charge you for that or even ask you to login). Our view has long been that adblocking is a right. You have the right to control what happens on your own computer, and if you (quite reasonably!) feel safer without ads, you should use an adblocker. If sites want users not to block ads, they need to give those users a good reason not to block ads. Blocking adblockers, however, is not a good reason. Not surprisingly, though, YouTube’s crackdown is leading many users to delete their adblockers. However, in an interesting move, a privacy advocate in the EU, Alexander Hanff, has filed a complaint arguing that this anti-adblocking attempt violates data protection laws by using JavaScript to detect adblockers without consent: Privacy
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