Youtube forces users to link their account to gmail

Just a thought. Can you not create a new gmail acct for this? It just wants a gmail address. Do that if you don't want the one you use for other things. Make new ones when joining new things. It's not required you only have one email acct. If that was the case, every family would have to share one email address when using the same computer.

Logout of your gmail. Create a new one and use that.


Your thread title says what it is. You have to use gmail now. Nothing about using your existing gmail.

I resisted this linking as long as I could. Then the day came where I had no option. I either had to link to some gmail account or stop using youtube. So I made a fake gmail account.

This is what happens when companies who normally deal in one aspect or product, buy out others and end up these mega conglomerates. They have their hands in everything, and can manipulate the entire marketplace. At lease with a monopoly, its only one product/service. I think these mega conglomerates should be as illegal as monopolies.

Fiftyfifty, the reason I mention the TSA is because I choose not to fly for that reason. I am also Canadian. I think there would be less of a problem here if, when youtube started up, they needed you to have Gmail. I would have a problem and complain if the new Doctor in Dr.Who was some feeble 90 year old woman and they kept her for 2-3 seasons, sure it is their show, but we do have a right to complain.

If youtube does this unhindered, others may do it too if they see no resistance, no difference of opinion. Just like a cashless society, if the idea of physical cash becomes rare enough, you will not be able to stop it. Sure people don't need the net right now (some do), in time like cars, they will.

It all comes down to freedom of speech and the knowledge that things CAN be better. Some people take things as they come and don't see the point in wanting a change, others see things coming and would want to change it rather then running away or getting hit. We have the right to voice opinions and to change minds.

Not to be fresh, but how is this news?

Here's a bit of info from a person who tries to collect data as part of my job: if you're signed into your Google account when you search this will block Google Analytics from capturing your search data. This is because of Google's privacy features. I can tell you a good 80-90% of the data I get for search terms is useless - shows up as (not set) which means the visitor was signed into their Google account.

Bad for people interested in web analytics, good for the rest of us!

Just to let you know that some of their privacy claims are legit.

Like tenth said, just create a fake account.

I have an account under my regular email (that channel I don't use anymore), and one just for the purpose of doing youtube and other internet activities where I don't want my info released.

Simple as that...also helps if you have a good security software too.

reply to post by MsAphrodite


how else will they get all those people telling the truth about snady ook and colorado?



just make another gmail account and make a fake name ^^

I don't think I remember linking mine? I think it still asks me something about it from time to time or something and I just hit the back button and then I'm still signed in on the page. :/ The thing I've been more upset about lately is the whole "Hey, we want you to start using your real name" thing versus your username. That's optional (for now) , and I continue to ignore that "service" of theirs. I shall keep my anonymous username.

Yes like many have mentioned, just set up a new fake gmail account. I do know this is annoying and I do not support this policy, I contract for g and they are evil, but a very vanilla flavored evil. Everything is a policy and not a good one.

Bottom line they are a data mining company, this is how they get data, by forcing you to integrate all your accounts so they can grab data. Also they create slick packaged products that are based on this mined data, that are always buggy and changing, and encourage you to "improve" the data!

It's a sham, just do your browsing/viewing/researching anonymously.

On the bright side, Trollers can now be searched up and exposed. No more hiding behind a computer screen and posting ignorant comments, Because now i know your name and where you live.

PS nobody can remain completely anonymous. Your every action online is tracked and logged by your online service provider.

reply to post by MsAphrodite


I stopped using You Tube nearly a year ago. When they declared that they'd be snooping on one's searches that's when I knew it's time to go. I had my suspicion on what they were up to around two years back when they required the user to link his Google account with the one on You Tube.

Coupled with the ugly personal page that they forced upon members then one can say it's had better days.

Originally posted by MsAphrodite
reply to post by minnow

 

I will be looking for an alternative that respects my privacy. I'm just upset about losing access to many years worth of videos and playlists, but it's not worth it to me to link.

Amazing how many of you are willing to let them track and link every single aspect of your life.

Well stated. I lost six years worth of faved vids and playlists in You Tube when I had to drop my account there due to the company's inability to restrain their megalomanic impulses. It was saddening as one can trace a history's worth of personal surfing in the site, and such moments can be moving and revealing.

I don't know if the company was forced to do it or it was their own choice, but they certainly blew and ruined most of the good they've done in their attempt at an online community.

Originally posted by Pedro4077
WOW - Look at all the people sticking up for google

True. It makes one suspicious of the people who come here.

Honestly, I never thought it was that big of a deal... Just trying to make the internet more simple, yet complex, they are.

reply to post by MsAphrodite


Create new Gmail account. Link youtube to it. Seriously, I don't get why people bitch about things that make sense.

Actually we all pay for Google and Youtube in many ways we do not realize.

Google has to pay for servers so advertiser funds fill that gap.
Buy who funds the advert industry?
Thats right, we do, with nearly every product we buy.

So basically we are dumping our collective wealth into these types of pursuits, yet since we allow profiteers to command these funds and the ship, they are now able to take us off course without our protest meaning anything.

Perhaps an open source, non profit model is in order for our email, searching, and video viewing?

I'm with the OP here I dislike the pervasive invasion of privacy on the internet from the demands to supply your cell number, cc number or other personal information when you want to create an email account or download "free" products to the linking of accounts like youtube, gmail, facebook, imdb, hotmail, skype, etc. What right do they have to my personal information? Why do they want to know my address, phone number, zip code, etc? How long do they keep this information for? Apple, for instance, keeps a permanent record of all your app purchases even if you buy an app and then delete it. It still remains on your purchase history. It's like they suspect you of being a potential terrorist and all of this information retrieval is for profiling purposes. They also look at you with dollar signs to personalize their ads to you based on your purchases or browsing history. It's like nothing we do is free or anonymous anymore. You have to prove you are who you say you are. And if you desire a little privacy or anonymity you automatically are looked upon as a criminal with something to hide. Well I ask, "quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"

reply to post by MsAphrodite


I had to sync my accounts early last year.... doesnt really bother me as I dont use my real names anywhere....

What I have noticed recently is that Instant Messenger are now merging with Skype! I wonder what thats about???

We all pay one way or another. Just as ATS pays for their end with advertisements and perhaps they are paid or persuaded to give some of us up (my own conspiracy) for various reasons. My old notebook winds up to cool off from all the ATS advertisements from all the hard drive paging especially if I'm not logged in.

We all have a right to bitch about what we pay for and yes you are paying indirectly. The argument is whether it's for your convenience or their higher compensation demands.

This is the new Facebook strategy where someone lures you in, gains your trust, becomes a part of your life that you invest hundreds or thousands of hours of your time in until one day they decide to alter the rules and sells you out like a nightmare ex-spouse would sell your Bank account number on Craigslist.

Sure as all the indoctrinated (& compensated) folks remind you that you can cut the cord and use somebody else's very expensive Free service, or perhaps simply create another fake account (I've made more than I can remember).

Not quite betrayed, but indeed misled or at the very least being given the ultimatum to pay higher compensation for their services or lose access to your library of data you spent years building effective immediately.

I'm thinking us oldsters won't put up with as much of what we perceive as an invasion of privacy or potential loss of the control of such and the youth who don't quite understand the value of their anonymity so they spend it like a drunk sailor.

Originally posted by JustgibberisH
On the bright side, Trollers can now be searched up and exposed. No more hiding behind a computer screen and posting ignorant comments, Because now i know your name and where you live.

And you know exactly what constitutes as trolling?
What if someone doesn't like your opinion and calls you a troll?

That is just aside.

I am really shocked at the lax attitude of those that say: "Don't use X". It isn't that simple.

First of all, when all these sites started, you were still private. In those days, it was fun to watch what you like and be able to give an opinion. Then, slowly sites merged and things changed.

Are the only option here:
- leaving a site you loved completely?
- Not using your log in and therefore losing all your preferences?
- Lying through your teeth by making fake accounts, just to log on? [Which could be made illegal one day]

If you are new to the net and decide not to use either Google or Youtube, it is easy to opt out. But we are talking people here that have had an account for longer than you can imagine.

It is like a drug dealer giving you the first hits for free but then you have to pay. It isn't easy to just leave a site you participated on for years without problems. Does our loyalty not count for anything?

As to the naive notion that Google and Youtube are free.
Yes they are if you believe 'free' means having to pay no money. I don't have to give G or YT any money to use them but 'free' they ain't.

I 'pay' by bartering. I give them my presence and my participation and hence I give them volume, with which they can make shedloads of money from advertising. We own a small site that is from the early 2000s and people still give us money to advertise on it.
So the revenue for the giants is immense and all because of: PEOPLE Sometimes you can make even more money inderictly than directly. This is the case with G and YT. If they wouldn't make enough by advertising, you'd soon have to pay.

So no it is not free at all. I will have to pay with my privacy and that is worth more than money. Nothing on earth is free.

Furthermore it is shocking to see that when things changle slowly, over a few years; some people are happy to go along with anything if it is packaged right.
Sentences such as: "It makes things easier" or "it is better to target me with adverts that are relevant rather than irrelevant to me is better" make me cringe.

Sure at the moment this may well be the case but you have to ask yourself; "Where will it stop?"
Always contemplate the future!

If you are happy to put up with this much, then nothing will stop the giants from trying to get a little further. I am not making this up, it is business [and human] nature.
"How far can we go?"
If they go any further, lets say, they want you full address, name and birthday for all websites anywhere, you would be happy right?
Because it makes things easier still.

What if you are 'clever' and use other sites or alternative browsers, in order to stay anonymous but one day some government jobsworth decides that everyone who uses these has something to hide and will be made a criminal?
They do this already with encrypted writing. It is illegal to have this on your hard drive, even if you just had a laugh with a mate.

Young people lack the foresight. They believe that everything is always going to stay the way it is now. How could they know otherwise? The same is true for the uneducated, as they don't know of any examples.

I have lived through large changes. My parents were in WW2. I had friends in E Germany. I have seen honest companies turn nasty and I am seeing Governments change right now for their worst. I recognise the warning signals. Experience is one heck of a tool! Some don't have this and therefore can not possibly try and convince those that do.

And it is those that walk blindly into everything, believing it is all 'for the best' that these giants rely on.
You are their wet dream!
If the world was full of us cynics, these companies wouldn't get anywhere unless they listened to their customers [paying or non paying is irrelevant] and do things right. You ARE important as a customer [even if you only pay indirectly], you are the blood in their veins and therefore you do have the right to moan about things that you don't like. End of.

Because 'it makes it easier...is for the best...it's for our wellbeing..." Where did I hear that one before..?