YouTube
Streaming · youtube.com
12 out of 20 Compliance-bound
No banner, no question, and a policy that belongs to the advertising company that owns it.
How many clicks to find the privacy policy from the homepage?
One click, from the sidebar. “Privacy” sits in the persistent left navigation and opens Google’s privacy policy as a web page. Placement is genuinely good; the document is the whole company’s, not YouTube’s.
Is there a meaningful choice about cookies and tracking before data is collected?
Nothing appears, and nothing is offered. No banner on a first load in Canada, and unlike Aritzia or lululemon there is no cookie preferences link on the site either. The controls that exist are Google account settings and ad personalization pages, which is to say they belong to the account rather than the visit. Google shows a consent banner in the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area, so the absence here is a decision about Canadian law, not a technical limit.
How hard is the policy to read, how much of it is there, and can you get it in one piece?
Grade 11.6 across 8,894 words, in one place. Difficulty 2, length 1, access 3. Among the longest documents here and among the easiest to read, which few manage together: Google writes plainly and writes a great deal. Access is 3 because YouTube-specific privacy sits in separate documents from the group policy you are sent to. Measure it yourself.
How many clicks to reach data settings, and can you delete your account yourself?
Controls that require an account. Google’s privacy controls, activity history and ad settings are thorough and they are login-gated, with no guest route, which caps this at 3 however many clicks it takes once you are inside.
Find the support page. How many clicks, and is there a way to speak to a human?
A help centre and a forum. Easy to find and staffed by articles and other users. There is no phone, no chat and no support address for an ordinary viewer; direct support exists for Partner Program creators, which most people are not.
Overall finding
12 out of 20 Compliance-bound
YouTube is the largest video service in the index and the only one that never raises the question at all. There is no banner, no preferences link, and no moment at which a Canadian visitor is asked anything. What it does well is write: at Grade 11.6 across 8,894 words, it is one of the few long policies here that stays readable. Being told clearly what is happening is worth something, and it is not the same as being asked.
- Scored
- 8 August 2026
- Region
- Canadian site, private window
- Session
- Logged out throughout
Scored from public evidence only. No company can pay to change a score, and paid relationships are disclosed here. Read the independence statement.