This is Google's company-wide Privacy Policy: what it collects, why, and how you manage your information
The document is Google's Privacy Policy, not a YouTube-specific notice. Google says it is meant to help you understand what information Google collects, why it collects it, and how you can update, manage, export and delete that information. Google frames the relationship as you trusting it with your information and says it works to protect that information and put you in control. Questions about the policy go through a linked contact page that is not supplied here.
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Google Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy is meant to help you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, and how you can update, manage, export, and delete your information.
When you use our services, you’re trusting us with your information. We understand this is a big responsibility and work hard to protect your information and put you in control.
To help explain things as clearly as possible, we’ve added examples, explanatory videos, and definitions for key terms.
Qualifications & exceptions
The policy covers Google services generally; YouTube appears only as an example service later in the introduction.
Not stated here
The linked contact page and the examples, videos and key-term definitions it mentions are referenced but their content is not part of this source.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Context
This version is effective October 1, 2026; archived versions and a PDF copy are linked, not supplied
The analyzed version states that it is effective October 1, 2026. The page also points to archived versions and to a downloadable PDF of the policy. Those are references only: neither earlier versions nor the PDF file are part of this source, so differences from previous versions cannot be determined from this document.
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Effective October 1, 2026 | Archived versions
Not stated here
Archived versions and the PDF copy are not supplied; whether the PDF text matches this page is not established here.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Company commitment
Google regularly reviews this policy and says it processes your information in compliance with it
Under compliance and cooperation with regulators, Google says it regularly reviews this Privacy Policy and makes sure it processes your information in ways that comply with it.
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Compliance & cooperation with regulators
We regularly review this Privacy Policy and make sure that we process your information in ways that comply with it.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Company practice
Your information may be processed on servers outside your country, with the same protections Google applies everywhere
Google maintains servers around the world, and your information may be processed on servers located outside the country where you live. Google acknowledges that data protection laws vary among countries, some providing more protection than others, and says that regardless of where your information is processed it applies the same protections described in this policy. It also says it complies with certain legal frameworks relating to the transfer of data, without naming them here.
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Data transfers
We maintain servers around the world and your information may be processed on servers located outside of the country where you live. Data protection laws vary among countries, with some providing more protection than others. Regardless of where your information is processed, we apply the same protections described in this policy. We also comply with certain legal frameworks relating to the transfer of data.
Qualifications & exceptions
Protections applied are those described in this policy, not the laws of your country.
The transfer frameworks Google complies with are described only as certain legal frameworks.
Not stated here
Which legal transfer frameworks apply, and to which regions, is not stated in this block.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Procedure
Google answers formal written complaints directly and works with regulators on unresolved data-transfer complaints
When Google receives formal written complaints, it responds by contacting the person who made the complaint. For complaints about the transfer of your data that it cannot resolve with you directly, Google works with the appropriate regulatory authorities, including local data protection authorities, to resolve them.
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When we receive formal written complaints, we respond by contacting the person who made the complaint. We work with the appropriate regulatory authorities, including local data protection authorities, to resolve any complaints regarding the transfer of your data that we cannot resolve with you directly.
Qualifications & exceptions
Regulator involvement is stated for data-transfer complaints Google cannot resolve with you directly.
Not stated here
How to lodge a formal written complaint is not stated in this block.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Context
For US state privacy laws, the policy maps categories, sources, purposes, disclosures and retention to its sections
Google notes that some U.S. state privacy laws require specific disclosures and says this Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand how it handles your information: categories and sources of information are in Information Google collects; purposes are in Why Google collects data; when Google may disclose information is in Sharing your information; and retention is in Retaining your information. This mapping points readers to the sections already carded; it adds the two statements in the following cards about selling and sharing and about anonymization.
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U.S. state law requirements
Some U.S. state privacy laws require specific disclosures.
This Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand how Google handles your information:
We explain the categories of information Google collects and the sources of that information in Information Google collects.
We explain the purposes for which Google collects and uses information in Why Google collects data.
We explain when Google may disclose information in Sharing your information.
We explain how Google retains information in Retaining your information.
Qualifications & exceptions
Applies to disclosures required by some U.S. state privacy laws.
Not stated here
Which states' laws are meant is not listed here beyond the CCPA named in the following cards.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · User right or choice
US state laws: rights to know, access, correct, delete, opt out of some profiling and targeted ads, no discrimination
Google describes the rights U.S. state privacy laws provide: to request information about how Google collects, uses and discloses your information; to access your information, sometimes in a portable format; to correct it; and to request that Google delete it. Many of these laws also provide the right to opt out of certain forms of profiling and targeted advertising, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these privacy rights. Google adds that the CCPA treats certain kinds of information, like health data, as sensitive, and that when users provide such information Google uses it only for purposes the CCPA permits, such as providing services users request and expect.
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U.S. state privacy laws also provide the right to request information about how Google collects, uses, and discloses your information. And they give you the right to access your information, sometimes in a portable format; correct your information; and to request that Google delete that information. Many of these laws also provide the right to opt out of certain forms of profiling and targeted advertising. They also provide the right to not be discriminated against for exercising these privacy rights.
Additionally, the CCPA treats certain kinds of information, like health data, as sensitive; when users provide this information, Google only uses it for purposes permitted by the CCPA, like to provide services that are requested and expected by our users.
Qualifications & exceptions
Rights depend on the state law that applies to you; portability applies sometimes and the opt-out covers certain forms of profiling and targeted advertising.
The CCPA sensitive-information limit applies when users provide such information.
Not stated here
The policy does not list which states' laws apply or the exact scope of each right; the statutes are not supplied.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · User right or choice
Under Washington's My Health My Data Act and Nevada SB 370, health info needs withdrawable consent or legal permission
Google states that the Washington My Health My Data Act and Nevada Senate Bill 370 provide specific rights, in addition to the state rights above, that apply to health information. When you provide health information subject to these laws, Google processes it with your consent, which you may withdraw, or as otherwise permitted by these laws. The two statutes are named by the policy; their contents are not part of this source.
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The Washington My Health My Data Act and Nevada Senate Bill 370 provide specific rights in addition to those rights above, that apply to health information. When you provide health information subject to these laws, Google processes it with your consent, which you may withdraw, or as otherwise permitted by these laws.
Qualifications & exceptions
Applies to health information subject to those two laws.
Processing may also proceed as otherwise permitted by these laws, not only on consent.
Not stated here
The text and scope of the Washington and Nevada laws are not supplied; which users they cover is not stated here.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Company practice
Google uses information to satisfy laws and discloses it for legal process or government requests, including police
Under legal reasons, Google uses information to satisfy applicable laws or regulations, and discloses information in response to legal process or enforceable government requests, including to law enforcement. It points to its Transparency Report for the number and type of government requests it receives.
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Legal reasons: Google also uses information to satisfy applicable laws or regulations, and discloses information in response to legal process or enforceable government requests, including to law enforcement. We provide information about the number and type of requests we receive from governments in our
Qualifications & exceptions
Disclosure is in response to legal process or enforceable government requests; the Sharing section states Google's good-faith reasonable-necessity standard.
Not stated here
The Transparency Report is not supplied.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Context
The policy covers all Google LLC and affiliate services, including YouTube, Android and ads on third-party sites
This Privacy Policy applies to all services offered by Google LLC and its affiliates, including YouTube, Android, and services offered on third-party sites such as advertising services. It does not apply to services that have separate privacy policies that do not incorporate this Privacy Policy. For YouTube users, this is the statement that places YouTube under this policy.
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When this policy applies
This Privacy Policy applies to all of the services offered by Google LLC and its affiliates, including YouTube, Android, and services offered on third-party sites, such as advertising services. This Privacy Policy doesn’t apply to services that have separate privacy policies that do not incorporate this Privacy Policy.
Qualifications & exceptions
Services with their own privacy policies that do not incorporate this one are outside its scope.
The policy does not list here which Google services have separate policies.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Restriction or exception
The policy excludes companies advertising Google services and other companies' products, even ones embedding Google
Google states that this Privacy Policy does not apply to the information practices of other companies and organizations that advertise its services, nor to services offered by other companies or individuals, including products or sites they offer that may include Google services to which the policy applies, products or sites displayed to you in search results, or products or sites linked from Google services. So when a third-party site embeds a Google service, this policy governs Google's handling of the data through that service, but not the third party's own practices.
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This Privacy Policy doesn’t apply to:
The information practices of other companies and organizations that advertise our services
Services offered by other companies or individuals, including products or sites they offer that may include Google services to which the policy applies, or products or sites displayed to you in search results, or linked from our services
Qualifications & exceptions
Google services embedded in another company's product remain covered as Google services; the other company's own practices are not.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Company commitment
Google may change the policy but will not reduce your rights without explicit consent, and gives notice of changes
Google changes this Privacy Policy from time to time. It commits not to reduce your rights under the policy without your explicit consent. It always indicates the date the last changes were published and offers access to archived versions for review. If changes are significant, Google provides a more prominent notice, including, for certain services, email notification of Privacy Policy changes. The analyzed version is dated October 1, 2026; the archived versions are referenced but not supplied.
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Changes to this policy
We change this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will not reduce your rights under this Privacy Policy without your explicit consent. We always indicate the date the last changes were published and we offer access to archived versions for your review. If changes are significant, we’ll provide a more prominent notice (including, for certain services, email notification of Privacy Policy changes).
Qualifications & exceptions
Prominent notice applies to significant changes; email notification applies only for certain services.
The no-reduction commitment is about rights under this policy and requires explicit consent to override.
Not stated here
Which services receive email notification, and what counts as significant, are not stated.
Separate privacy notices add terms for Payments, Gemini Apps, YouTube Kids, Family Link child accounts and others
Google lists privacy notices that provide additional information about some Google services: Payments, Fiber, Gemini Apps, Google Fi, Google Workspace for Education, Read Along, YouTube Kids, Google Accounts managed with Family Link for children under 13 (or the applicable age in your country), the Family Link privacy guide for children and teens, and Voice and Audio Collection from Children's Features on the Google Assistant. These notices are linked but not part of this source, so their terms, including those for YouTube Kids and child accounts, are not described here.
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Specific Google services
The following privacy notices provide additional information about some Google services:
Payments
Fiber
Gemini Apps
Google Fi
Google Workspace for Education
Read Along
YouTube Kids
Google Accounts Managed with Family Link, for Children under 13 (or applicable age in your country)
Family Link privacy guide for children & teens
Voice and Audio Collection from Children’s Features on the Google Assistant
Qualifications & exceptions
The notices are described as additional information about some services; the policy does not say here how they interact with this policy beyond the scope statement that services with separate, non-incorporating policies are excluded.
Not stated here
None of the listed notices is supplied; the YouTube Kids and Family Link child notices in particular are not analyzed here.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Context
Members of organizations using Google Workspace or Cloud Platform are referred to the Google Cloud Privacy Notice
If you are a member of an organization that uses Google Workspace or Google Cloud Platform, Google directs you to the Google Cloud Privacy Notice to learn how those services collect and use your personal information. That notice is linked but not supplied, so the data practices for organization-managed accounts are only partly described by this policy.
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If you’re a member of an organization that uses Google Workspace or Google Cloud Platform, learn how these services collect and use your personal information in the
Qualifications & exceptions
Applies to members of organizations using Google Workspace or Google Cloud Platform.
Not stated here
The Google Cloud Privacy Notice is not supplied.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Context
Affiliates are Google group companies, including four named EU consumer-service entities
An affiliate is an entity that belongs to the Google group of companies. The definition names the companies providing consumer services in the EU: Google Ireland Limited, Google Commerce Ltd, Google Payment Corp and Google Dialer Inc, and links to a list of companies providing business services in the EU. Affiliates matter because the policy covers services offered by Google LLC and its affiliates and allows personal information to be provided to affiliates for processing.
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Key terms
Affiliates
An affiliate is an entity that belongs to the Google group of companies, including the following companies that provide consumer services in the EU: Google Ireland Limited, Google Commerce Ltd, Google Payment Corp, and Google Dialer Inc.
Qualifications & exceptions
The four named companies are those providing consumer services in the EU; business-service affiliates are listed only on an unsupplied page.
Not stated here
The list of EU business-service affiliates is not supplied.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Company commitment
Google's legal team reviews every government or court data request and pushes back on overly broad or improper ones
Explaining legal process and enforceable governmental requests, Google says that, like other technology and communications companies, it regularly receives requests from governments and courts around the world to disclose user data. It states that respect for the privacy and security of data you store with Google underpins its approach, that its legal team reviews each and every request regardless of type, and that it frequently pushes back when a request appears overly broad or does not follow the correct process. Its Transparency Report is linked but not supplied.
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legal process, or enforceable governmental request
Like other technology and communications companies, Google regularly receives requests from governments and courts around the world to disclose user data. Respect for the privacy and security of data you store with Google underpins our approach to complying with these legal requests. Our legal team reviews each and every request, regardless of type, and we frequently push back when a request appears to be overly broad or doesn’t follow the correct process.
Qualifications & exceptions
Push-back is described as frequent and triggered by overly broad or procedurally incorrect requests; it is not a promise to refuse any class of request.
Not stated here
The Transparency Report is not supplied.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Context
Google operates data centers around the world to keep its products continuously available
Explaining servers around the world, Google says it operates data centers located around the world to help keep its products continuously available for users. This is the basis for the transfers card: your information may be processed outside the country where you live.
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servers around the world
For example, we operate data centers located
to help keep our products continuously available for users.
Not stated here
The linked data center locations page is not supplied.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Context
The US state privacy laws named include the CCPA, VCDPA, CPA, CTDPA, UCPA, Washington MHMD, Nevada SB 370 and others
The policy lists the U.S. state privacy laws it refers to. The first part of the list names the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), Connecticut Act Concerning Personal Data Privacy and Online Monitoring (CTDPA), Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA), Washington My Health My Data Act (MHDM), Nevada Senate Bill 370, Florida Digital Bill of Rights (FDBR), Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA), Oregon Consumer Privacy Act (OCPA), Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act (MTCDPA), New Jersey Senate Bill 332 and New Hampshire Senate Bill 255. These are named external laws; their contents are not part of this source and the policy does not say which apply to a given user.
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U.S. state privacy laws
These laws include:
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA);
Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA);
Colorado Privacy Act (CPA);
Connecticut Act Concerning Personal Data Privacy and Online Monitoring (CTDPA); and
Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA)
Washington My Health My Data Act (MHDM)
Nevada Senate Bill 370
Florida Digital Bill of Rights (FDBR)
Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA)
Oregon Consumer Privacy Act (OCPA)
Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act (MTCDPA)
New Jersey Senate Bill 332
New Hampshire Senate Bill 255
Qualifications & exceptions
The list identifies laws by name only; the rights described earlier depend on which law applies to you.
Not stated here
The statutes are not supplied and the policy does not state how applicability is determined.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Context
The list continues with Nebraska, Iowa, Delaware, Tennessee, Minnesota, Maryland, Indiana, Kentucky and Rhode Island
The second part of the list of U.S. state privacy laws names the Nebraska Data Privacy Act (NEDPA), Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act (IACDPA), Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act (DPDPA), Tennessee Information Protection Act (TIPA), Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act (MNCDPA), Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024 (MDODPA), Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act (INCDPA), Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act (KCDPA) and Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act (RIDTPPA). As with the first part, these are named external laws whose contents are not part of this source.
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Nebraska Data Privacy Act (NEDPA)
Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act (IACDPA)
Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act (DPDPA)
Tennessee Information Protection Act (TIPA)
Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act (MNCDPA)
Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024 (MDODPA)
Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act (INCDPA)
Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act (KCDPA)
Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act (RIDTPPA)
Qualifications & exceptions
Names only; the policy does not describe each law's rights.