Going to be quite scant on details but…
I was out and about, and was messaged by two friends independently saying they were surprised to see me in a YouTube video.
Confused, I asked what they were on about. Turns out, a guy I gave advice to had then started recording me towards the end of our interaction without telling me, and has, weeks later, uploaded it as part of a longer video.
I was pretty tired at the time and doing the guy a favour (out of annoyance), and I don’t like a few things, one of those being that he put me online (which, within hours has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times).
What can I do? I have already messaged him to tell him to remove me, but this seems like a ridiculous invasion of privacy.
You mentioned this was in Europe. You are protected under the GDPR. There are additional laws if this happened in Germany or the UK. Your best bet is private lawyer.
File a DMCA with Youtube.Videos get taken down all the time with this.
This is illegal will get your own account banned and can be undone by the guy asserting accurately that you don’t own the copyright to his video. Strategies that work great for scummy companies with teams of lawyers aren’t always great for those without.
Where do you live? Recording a private conversation without permission is a felony in two party states in the US. Meaning both parties most consent to the recording.
You may also have a recourse through YouTube’s reporting system.
I tried reporting but didn’t give me a relevant option.
This is in Europe. I just did a quick search and you’re right, consent is needed where this was recorded.
From what I understand EU law is pretty strict on the fact that they must obtain permission first. That may vary by country though.
Edit: comments below are correct. I believe I’m thinking of businesses recording you which is part of EU law where personal conversations only seem to be addressed country by country if at all.
You’re right, found the relevant reporting process. Feels a bit too late now but yeah, did it anyways.
In the long run it’s good you reported the Youtuber. If dickhead gets enough strikes, his channel will be taken down.
Ask a local lawyer. Laws vary about recording someone without their permission.
Depends on the country and where it was recorded
In a lot of places, it’s completely legal to record if he’s part of the conversation.
If he was not, in many places it’s illegal
If it’s a public place where there is no expectation of privacy, also possibly nothing you can do
Where do you live? What are the laws around recording another person without their consent. Note that usually audio recording in public is more restrictive than video in public, so assuming he didn’t mute the audio of the clip, you probably have a case there.
As for the suggestion about DMCA takedowns, that depends on of the information you shared could be considered copyrightable since the recording copyright belongs to the person doing the recording. That’s not common, so you could file a DMCA takedown, but I have a feeling it might not be legitimate. There might be other YouTube terms and conditions that they violated, though. Check the “Report” button for the options. I don’t have an account anymore to look.
In America so long as your in public and haven’t made privacy for yourself then audio or video are the same. If I could hear it and remember it and I’m in public I can record it. If I can see it and remember it and I’m in public I can record it. Audio only matters if they have a reasonable belief that the conversation is private.
