As an experienced technology professional and long-time YouTube user, I‘ve helped many friends and family understand and adjust their privacy settings over the years. With data breaches so common now, it‘s vital we understand how to protect our personal information.
Especially on a platform like YouTube that has access to so much of our viewing history, subscriptions, and personal data used for advertising purposes.
In this guide, I‘ll arm you with a deeper look at YouTube‘s privacy options with tips to lock down your account. By the end, you‘ll understand the key privacy settings like the back of your hand!
How YouTube‘s Privacy Controls Evolved Over Time
Since YouTube‘s launch in 2005, creators have gone back and forth about how much control to give users over their privacy.
In the early years, video privacy settings were very basic:
| Year | Video Privacy Options |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Public or Private |
| 2012 | Added Unlisted option |
With no middle ground "Unlisted" mode, creators had to choose between leaving videos completely public or not sharing them at all.
But over time, YouTube continued expanding options to address privacy complaints. Some key expansions included:
- 2013: Custom thumbnails to remove identities
- 2017: Incognito mode for anonymous watching
- 2018: Selectively limit data for personalized ads
Especially in recent years following lawsuits over unauthorized data usage, YouTube responded with more transparent controls for users to restrict data collection and limit ad targeting.
But even with the improvements, many users still have no idea these options exist!
My goal is to walk you through exactly where these settings are and how to update them yourself in just a few minutes.
First, Understand The Unique Privacy Needs on YouTube
Unlike other sites, YouTube caters to various groups with different priorities around privacy:
- Personal viewers want control over what personal data is visible and used for ads
- Brand channels need to limit public analytics like view counts to competitors
- Video creators focus on controlling access to videos to protect income and creative ideas
YouTube allows customizing settings based on your personal usage patterns and privacy concerns.
For example, a lifestyle vlogger relies on YouTube search to gain new viewers. But an animator creating original short films needs to limit access to videos before release dates.
Let‘s explore how account types compare regarding privacy settings available:
| Privacy Settings | Personal Account | Brand Account | Creator Account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hide subscriptions from public | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Keep private watch history | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Hide likes/dislikes | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Disable personalized ads | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Video privacy controls | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
As you can see, Creators have the most fine-tuned control to address income-related privacy concerns.
But every account type still benefits from limiting the personal data that YouTube can leverage for profit.
Step-by-Step Guide to Updating Your Privacy Settings
Ready to take control of your YouTube privacy?
Let me walk you through exactly where to update these settings on both desktop and mobile:
1. Restrict Personal Data for Advertising
Start by limiting what personal information YouTube can leverage to serve you targeted ads:
On Desktop:
- Click your profile picture > Settings
- Select Privacy from left menu
- Toggle ON both options under "Keep private"
- Under Ads, click Go to My Ad Center
- Switch Personalized ads to OFF
On Mobile:
- Tap your profile picture > Settings
- Tap History & privacy
- Tap Ad Settings
- Turn Personalized ads to the OFF position
I always recommend disabling personalized ads as a catch-all privacy setting. This truly limits the profile data YouTube can collect about you behind the scenes.
Without your personal watch history and account data, ads seem less relevant. But many users find this worth reclaiming their privacy.
2. Control Video Visibility as a Creator
For those posting videos on YouTube, you can leverage video privacy settings to limit viewing access.
On Desktop:
- Go to YouTube Studio, click Content from left menu
- For each video, change privacy to:
- Public: Fully visible to all
- Private: Only accessible with direct link
- Unlisted: Findable by link, but not searchable/recommended
- Save changes
On Mobile:
- In YouTube app, tap user icon > Your videos
- Tap Edit menu next to each video
- Set Visibility to Public, Unlisted or Private
I recommend marking videos Unlisted if you want to selectively share with subscribers without making fully public. This gives you more control over who can discover and watch your content.
Key Takeaways and Next Steps
I hope walking through the exact steps to update your YouTube privacy settings was helpful! Here are some final key takeaways:
- Monitor settings regularly as policies evolve, don‘t set-and-forget
- Limit ad data collection for enhanced privacy
- Creators: Mindfully toggle video visibility settings
- Disable personalization to reduce profiling behind the scenes
As you get more familiar with the available settings, don‘t be afraid to customize options to meet your comfort level over time.
What privacy option did you find most useful for your needs? I welcome any feedback to improve this guide!