Updates to YouTube’s Terms of Service (June ‘21)

Question

Hi everyone,
 
On June 1, 2021,  we’ll be making a few updates to our Terms of Service for countries outside of the U.S. This may sound familiar from when users in the U.S. received these updated Terms of Service in November of last year. 
 
The Terms of Service are written in legal language, so we're writing this post to highlight what it means in a way that’s easier to understand. 
 
A summary of the upcoming changes below, and the new Terms of Service will be made available in their entirety here on June 1, 2021.
 
 -- Clarification on data that can’t be collected --
 
Previous language:
The following restrictions apply to your use of the Service. You are not allowed to:
…
4. collect or harvest any information that might identify a person (for example, usernames) unless permitted by that person or allowed under section (3) above;
 
New language: 
The following restrictions apply to your use of the Service. You are not allowed to:
…
4. collect or harvest any information that might identify a person (for example, usernames or faces), unless permitted by that person or allowed under section (3) above;
 
What’s changing: We’re adding “or faces” to our Terms of Service to be explicit about what can’t be collected.
What this means: We are adding this into our Terms of Service to be extremely explicit about what kind of data users cannot collect from YouTube. YouTube has never allowed the collection of personally identifiable information (including data that can be used for facial recognition) under previous versions of our Terms of Service, but we want to specifically include language around facial data to be even more clear. We take user privacy seriously and want you to feel confident that your data is never being misused. 
 
 -- Adding a new section to our Terms of Service: Right to Monetize --
 
New section:
Right to Monetize 
You grant to YouTube the right to monetize your Content on the Service (and such monetization may include displaying ads on or within Content or charging users a fee for access). This Agreement does not entitle you to any payments. Starting June 1, 2021, any payments you may be entitled to receive from YouTube under any other agreement between you and YouTube (including for example payments ​under the YouTube Partner Program, Channel memberships or Super Chat) will be treated as royalties.  If required by law, Google will withhold taxes from such payments.
 
What’s changing: We’re adding a new section to our Terms of Service: “Right to Monetize” containing two updates.
 
What this means:
For channels not yet in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP):
We’re adding this section to let you know that, starting in June we’ll begin slowly rolling out ads on a limited number of videos from channels that aren’t in YPP. We began testing this in the U.S. in November and now will be expanding this globally. As a creator outside of the U.S. that’s not in YPP, this means you may see ads on some of your videos. Channels that aren’t in YPP won’t receive a share of the revenue from these ads, though still have the opportunity to apply for YPP as they normally would once they meet the eligibility requirements. Nothing is changing with the requirements or process to join YPP. You can always check your progress toward eligibility on the monetization tab in YouTube Studio.
For monetizing creators:

We’re also updating the Terms of Service to confirm that any payments from YouTube to creators will be considered “royalties” from a U.S. tax perspective, effective June 1, 2021. Monetizing creators need to submit their tax information in AdSense and Google may be required to withhold taxes if required by law. We’ve shared more info about how to submit your tax information in AdSense here. If you have further questions, you may want to seek professional tax advice.

We hope this helps clear up any questions about these changes. 
 
– TeamYouTube