5 ms·

This feels a bit overdramatic. You can remove videos from your watch history and, in my experience, YouTube will cease to give you recommendations based on them

by 63 5y ago

This feels a bit overdramatic. You can remove videos from your watch history and, in my experience, YouTube will cease to give you recommendations based on them. You could also create a separate account used solely for watching videos with YouTube-dl instead of using your main one if you're worried about recommendations. I agree that it sucks that a workaround is necessary, but I don't think this particular one is worth getting too worked up about.

Seattle3503 5y ago
Does this work in practice? Most websites require text verification for accounts. With that they can just link separate accounts in the back end.
- 63 5y ago
  It works for me in practice. YouTube definitely are capable of linking separate accounts in the back end, but in my experience they don't do so for recommendations. I have a separate account specifically for watching a given type of content and I don't receive any of its recommendations on my main account. Now, whether or not they use linking to give advertisements or sell data I'm not sure, but at that point they can link based on IP anyway and we're talking about a separate issue.
  - TheSmiddy 5y ago
    Yeah this is a very common strategy of language learners. Have a seperate YouTube account where you only watch content in your target language to keep the recommendations clean
- rainbowzootsuit 5y ago
  Maybe get a cheap MVNO SIM like Ting Mobile and use that to register? I know I've had google accounts that didn't require any re authentication in the way of phone numbers for going on years so you can likely discard the number after you show you are human.
  - qwerty456127 5y ago
    Won't it still also require a credit card for YouTube to believe your age?
    - rainbowzootsuit 5y ago
      I'm sorry, I haven't registered a new account in a while. I tested an account I've had since 2016 that I made with a ex employer's landline phone and I've never registered a credit card to. It is able to play age restricted video by confirming that I want to and nothing else. It's under a fictional name and birthday etc.
Vektorweg 5y ago
is it just me, or are downvoters abusing their power to suppress divergent opinion?
- DiabloD3 5y ago
  Yup, and as per the Internet's one golden rule (of which we have at least a dozen), "Do not (ab)use downvotes to disagree, put your disagreement in writing or stay silent". It is frowned upon here, but not against the rules. Downvotes on HN should, optimally, only be used to downvote comments that truly do not add anything to the conversation constructively. qwerty's comment, imo, was constructive, as that is a common use case of ytdl: to watch a video without being explicitly tracked by Youtube; although Youtube still does track you, but in ways that probably violate EU law, and might violate US law too.
  - gundmc 5y ago
    > although Youtube still does track you, but in ways that probably violate EU law, and might violate US law too. I was in agreement with your post until this throw-in line at the end. What reason do you have to believe that YouTube is breaking US and EU law?
    - aplorbust 5y ago
      1. They have betrayed user trust in the past and continue to do so. 2. They have been sued by the FTC, paid millions in settlements, and failed to prove that they did not break the law. 3. They are currently being sued by the DOJ and many states attorney general. 4. They have made numerous settlements in private privacy-related litigation as opposed to proving they were not liable, despite having enormous cash reserves available for legal costs. If someone were to suspect Google was "probably" breaking the law, this does not seem like an unreasonable suspicion.
  - jmiserez 5y ago
    Quoting dang: >On HN, downvoting for disagreement has always been fine: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16131314 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16131314 Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20258525 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20258525

by 63 5y ago

Seattle3503 5y ago

Does this work in practice? Most websites require text verification for accounts. With that they can just link separate accounts in the back end.

63 5y ago
It works for me in practice. YouTube definitely are capable of linking separate accounts in the back end, but in my experience they don't do so for recommendations. I have a separate account specifically for watching a given type of content and I don't receive any of its recommendations on my main account. Now, whether or not they use linking to give advertisements or sell data I'm not sure, but at that point they can link based on IP anyway and we're talking about a separate issue.
- TheSmiddy 5y ago
  Yeah this is a very common strategy of language learners. Have a seperate YouTube account where you only watch content in your target language to keep the recommendations clean
rainbowzootsuit 5y ago
Maybe get a cheap MVNO SIM like Ting Mobile and use that to register? I know I've had google accounts that didn't require any re authentication in the way of phone numbers for going on years so you can likely discard the number after you show you are human.
- qwerty456127 5y ago
  Won't it still also require a credit card for YouTube to believe your age?
  - rainbowzootsuit 5y ago
    I'm sorry, I haven't registered a new account in a while. I tested an account I've had since 2016 that I made with a ex employer's landline phone and I've never registered a credit card to. It is able to play age restricted video by confirming that I want to and nothing else. It's under a fictional name and birthday etc.

Vektorweg 5y ago

is it just me, or are downvoters abusing their power to suppress divergent opinion?

DiabloD3 5y ago
Yup, and as per the Internet's one golden rule (of which we have at least a dozen), "Do not (ab)use downvotes to disagree, put your disagreement in writing or stay silent". It is frowned upon here, but not against the rules. Downvotes on HN should, optimally, only be used to downvote comments that truly do not add anything to the conversation constructively. qwerty's comment, imo, was constructive, as that is a common use case of ytdl: to watch a video without being explicitly tracked by Youtube; although Youtube still does track you, but in ways that probably violate EU law, and might violate US law too.
- gundmc 5y ago
  > although Youtube still does track you, but in ways that probably violate EU law, and might violate US law too. I was in agreement with your post until this throw-in line at the end. What reason do you have to believe that YouTube is breaking US and EU law?
  - aplorbust 5y ago
    1. They have betrayed user trust in the past and continue to do so. 2. They have been sued by the FTC, paid millions in settlements, and failed to prove that they did not break the law. 3. They are currently being sued by the DOJ and many states attorney general. 4. They have made numerous settlements in private privacy-related litigation as opposed to proving they were not liable, despite having enormous cash reserves available for legal costs. If someone were to suspect Google was "probably" breaking the law, this does not seem like an unreasonable suspicion.
- jmiserez 5y ago
  Quoting dang: >On HN, downvoting for disagreement has always been fine: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16131314 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16131314 Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20258525 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20258525