YouTube gets a C. Here's what loads before you agree
Checked October 25, 2026 in a US browser, with no choice made on any banner.
youtube.com
70/100
- Online since 2005, 21 years
- No consent banner seen
What cost it points
- high
Ad networks log your visit before you choose.
- high
Buttons don't say what they do.
- medium
No banner asks you, so there's nothing to refuse.
- medium
No link to opt out of your data being sold for ads.
- low
No stated way to report a barrier.
- low
Keyboard users can't skip the menu.
- low
Embedded frames have no names.
- low
Full page addresses can leak to third parties.
- low
"Learn more" links don't say where they go.
What loaded before you chose
Third-party trackers that fired before any choice, across 2 visits.
- Ad trackers
- Google Ads / DoubleClick
- Analytics
- None
- Cookies before a choice
- 8
- Session recording
- None
- Consent banner
- None
- Opt-out link
- No
The fine print
- Terms of use
- 17 min read (opens in a new tab) · 3,947 words
- Privacy policy
- 45 min read (opens in a new tab) · 10,748 words
- Forced arbitration
- Not found
- Class-action waiver
- Not found
- AI in the privacy policy
- 2 mentions
- Accessibility statement
- No
Read automatically, so unusual wording can be missed. Not scored.
Security
- HTTPS
- Yes
- HSTS
- Yes
- Content-Security-Policy
- Yes
- Framing blocked
- Yes
- Secret keys in code
- None
- security.txt
- Yes
Not an audit or legal advice. Run youtube.com? Tell us what changed. How we grade
Get your own site to an A
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