YouTube, like any other social networking site, allows users to share content in the form of videos with friends and the entire web.
YouTube offers a range of privacy settings that are targeted toward protecting your identity and keeping your experience positive and safe.
- First and foremost: keep your video private if you think the content might be used in a malicious or harmful manner. The broadcast and sharing settings can be adjusted to make the video private
- Set the video to unlisted if you do not want to share the video with many people or, ideally, less than 25 people. Unlisted videos do not end up in search and are nearly impossible to find. These videos can only be accessed if the direct Internet link to the video is available
- Do not share content that is too personal, and make sure you are completely aware of the content you are uploading
- Edit your profile on YouTube and only share information that you want to make public. Do not share information about yourself that might be used against you in a malicious manner like date of birth, address, etc
- Edit and adjust your account’s privacy settings. Through this option, you can decide who can send you messages and videos, and what others can see in regards to videos you have uploaded
- Disable or control the ratings, comments, and responses to your videos. The properties of the videos you have uploaded can be controlled, such that you can disable ratings, comments, and responses from other users or viewers
- Do not share the status of your activity on YouTube. There is an option to control such updates that might be triggered by your constant activity
- You can control where your videos are viewed through the Embedding and Syndication options in YouTube