# YouTube Music privacy rating

Music streaming service from Google, drawing on YouTube's catalog of songs, videos and live performances, with an ad-supported free tier and a paid Premium plan.

## Summary

YouTube Music scores 25 out of 100 (grade F) on the music streaming criteria. It meets 2 of 7 criteria: transparency report and tells users about requests. It partly meets security headers. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales and independent audit. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B.

- Website: https://music.youtube.com
- Jurisdiction: United States. Five Eyes member. Subject to the US CLOUD Act.
- Platforms: Web, Android, iOS
- Home page trackers: Google Fonts (not scored), Google Tag Manager
- Category: [Music streaming](https://privacyratings.com/music-streaming/)
- Also rated: [YouTube](https://privacyratings.com/video-platforms/youtube/) (Video platforms)
- Grade: F (25/100)

## Criteria

| Criterion | Answer | Note | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | No | Closed source. |  |
| No trackers or telemetry | No | The Android app includes Firebase Analytics, and listening history is used for recommendations and ads unless turned off. | https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.google.android.apps.youtube.music/latest/ |
| No ads or data sales | No | The free tier is funded by targeted advertising. | https://policies.google.com/privacy |
| Independent audit | No | No independent audit is published. |  |
| Transparency report | Yes | Google publishes government request counts and outcomes every six months. | https://transparencyreport.google.com/user-data/overview |
| Tells users about requests | Yes | Google emails users before disclosing their data to government agencies, unless legally prohibited or in emergencies. | https://policies.google.com/terms/information-requests |
| TLS configuration | Not tested yet | Could not test: Timed out |  |
| Security headers | Partial | Grade B (75/100+) | https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/observatory/analyze?host=music.youtube.com |
| Modern web standards | Not tested yet | Not tested yet. |  |

Source: https://privacyratings.com/music-streaming/youtube-music/
Edit: https://github.com/privacyratings/privacyratings.com/edit/main/ratings/music-streaming/youtube-music.md