You will no longer be able to sign in to YouTube without a Google account

[Paws]

I just visited Youtube, it asked me for my password, then:

You will no longer be able to sign in to YouTube without a Google Account.
If you do not want to link this YouTube account, you can sign out here.

Now you're forced to link them

Oh, and when I clicked the link-link, I got an error page

 

[BrianPGH]

Yeah, I think this new policy is total b.s. I deleted my YouTube account because of it. There's no reason why anyone should be forced into linking their two accounts, or into creating a google account if they don't already have one.

 

[quasar]

As much as I disagree with it, I just created a new blank google account with my 'dead' email address that I use for these kind of requests.

The google account that I use for my blog stays with my blog and nothing else.

 

[racer2438]

Yup it's Bs , but what are you going to do.. you either do it or don't.. If you don't want to go there any more then you don't that simple. It is there rules..that suck

 

[Críostóir]

It doesn't fucking work. I docilely went ahead and clicked the "link these accounts" button, and it gave me an error, just like it does on every other link on the page.

Goodbye, YouTube. It was fun while it lasted.

 

[Críostóir]

OK, my computer guru friend talked me through it. That error message? It goes away if you delete your YouTube and Google cookies. On Firefox you can do that if you go Tools/Options/Privacy and click Show Cookies. Then go through your cookie table and delete them.

Or you could just delete all your cookies, but that can be a pain.

 

[T-Rexx]

Goodbye, YouTube.


It was fun while it lasted.



Top Ten Alternatives to YouTube.

 

[Keelandson]

Google is evil. End of story.

 

[Corny]

the account is still owned by the same company.

your previous youtube account was owned by google, too.

they could already merge the data with the other stuff that you have on google.

if you are paranoid, create an extra google account for youtube. from their side, they are probably just getting rid of extra work.

and for all the paranoid guys .. i hope you are also not using google as a search engine, have taken appropriate measures to block all their ads and especially google analytics. oh and never use google maps or watch picasa galleries .. because otherwise, they already know what you are doing on youtube anyway.

 

[NineOfClubs]

Google is evil. End of story.

I think maybe more than any of us realize. Hate those bastards so much...

 

[kallipolis]

the account is still owned by the same company.

your previous youtube account was owned by google, too.

they could already merge the data with the other stuff that you have on google.

if you are paranoid, create an extra google account for youtube. from their side, they are probably just getting rid of extra work.

and for all the paranoid guys .. i hope you are also not using google as a search engine, have taken appropriate measures to block all their ads and especially google analytics. oh and never use google maps or watch picasa galleries .. because otherwise, they already know what you are doing on youtube anyway.

Common sense. Thanks, Corny.

 

[Keelandson]

your previous youtube account was owned by google, too.

When I signed up it wasn't.

Now it blocks me because I won't change my YouTube nickname. It claims I'm attempting to use the nick of another user when I attempt to change my password, so I realized it wants to link my ISP to a new nick and to any web-stalking cookies that slip through from any other site where it plants them worldwide.

I have a boatload of anti-tracking (and, specifically, anti-Google) extensions running in Firefox, so some of those might be evident, ironically in a browser bankrolled by Google.

 

[Paws]

they already know what you are doing on youtube anyway.

My main worry is our security - if you now have your account hacked, both your Youtube identity and other files on Google are exposed. Whereas with separate accounts, one part would still be safe.

 

[Corny]

.. you can still use two accounts

 

[GamerBear]

Yeah I had this issue when my main YouTube account was named the same way as my google account and so when I changed the password I was able to gain access to both accounts I can still log in to my YouTube account on my iPhone but I assume if I go on the laptop it will force me to link a google account.

 

[Kulindahr]

I have a boatload of anti-tracking (and, specifically, anti-Google) extensions running in Firefox, so some of those might be evident, ironically in a browser bankrolled by Google.

Can you point me at some of those?

I like to run with all cookies blocked except my approved list, but google, yahoo, and gobs of other sites won't even talk to me unless cookies are turned on. I even got that from JUB for a while.

Then after every browsing sessions I tend to go through and delete a hundred or more new cookies, even when all I've been doing is research for my story here!




[example: I just left here, deleted 209 unwanted and mostly unrecognized cookies, and returned. all I've been doing today is JUB and story research]

 

[Keelandson]

My blocking extensions:

Adblock Plus, Beef Taco, BetterPrivacy, Clear Private Data (puts the clear-data control under the right mouse button), Element Hiding Helper for Adblock Plus, Sanitisminau (correct spelling) and last but not least, arguably one of the most important, in fact, PrefBar.

I discovered PrefBar (Preferences Bar) way back when Firefox was still Netscape. It puts a bunch of controls across the top of the browser, some of the more important being Cookies, Popups, Send Referrer (great!!), JavaScript, Java, Flash and more that I don't use.

As well, I use Mozilla's about:config controls not only to help prevent tracking but to stop the address bar's propensity of making public sites I've been to, searches I've made, "helpful hints" if I typo an address, prefetching that plants tracking cookies from sites you never visit, pings that augment prefetching. . . .

Type about:config in the address bar and you'll see what comes up. Click OK at the warning. There's nothing dangerous if you don't change the text, which takes a lot of doing.

But to make my about:config changes remain through application updates, I made a plain-text document called user.js that modifies the prefs.js file that controls about:config. This user.js file goes into Firefox's Profiles folder, where prefs.js and all the other stuff, such as bookmarks, resides.

mozillazine.org has tons of stuff on all this, but it is not affiliated with Mozilla (and at the moment appears to be down). But its forums are operating.

When it's back up I'll find the page with all the about:config modifications and their explanations and post it in this thread, if you want.

Among my browser modifications:

user_pref("browser.urlbar.maxRichResults", 0);

user_pref("places.frecency.unvisitedBookmarkBonus", 0);

user_pref("places.frecency.bookmarkVisitBonus", 0);

user_pref("places.frecency.unvisitedTypedBonus", 2);

user_pref("browser.urlbar.matchBehavior", 2);

user_pref("browser.urlbar.matchOnlyTyped", false);

user_pref("browser.chrome.favicons", false);
user_pref("browser.chrome.site_icons", false);

user_pref("browser.blink_allowed", false);

user_pref("accessibility.warn_on_browsewithcaret", true);

user_pref("browser.send_pings", false);

user_pref("network.prefetch-next", false);
user_pref("browser.send_pings.max_per_link", 0);
user_pref("browser.send_pings.require_same_host", false);
user_pref("extensions.bprivacy.sendpings.allowed", false);
user_pref("dom.storage.enabled", false);
user_pref("app.update.auto", false);
user_pref("app.update.autoUpdateEnabled", false);
user_pref("app.update.enabled", false);

user_pref("browser.history.showSessions", false);
user_pref("browser.history_expire_days",0);
user_pref("browser.history_expire_days.mirror", 0);
user_pref("browser.history_expire_days_min", 0);
user_pref("browser.sessionhistory.max_entries", 0);
user_pref("privacy.clearOnShutdown.history", true);
user_pref("privacy.cpd.history", true);

user_pref("network.http.sendSecureXSiteReferrer", false);
user_pref("keyword.enabled", false);
user_pref("geo.enabled", false);

 

[Keelandson]

Two important extensions I missed are optimizegoogle and ghostery.

 

[Kulindahr]

I just added BeefTaco and BetterPrivacy.

Weird -- BetterPrivacy wiped the same number of those long-term cookie things as I removed cookies last night.....

 

[Corny]

google allows you to opt out:

http://www.google.com/ads/preferences/plugin/

http://www.google.com/privacy/ads/

http://www.google.com/ads/preferences/html/opt-out.html

http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout