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When searching videos on tor through DuckDuckGo, I am given this warning before proceeding to the video.

"YouTube (owned by Google) does not let you watch videos anonymously. As such, watching YouTube videos here will be tracked by YouTube/Google."

I am then asked to watch the video "on YouTube" or "Here".

(If you want to see exactly what I mean just search any video on Tor through DuckDuckGo then click on it and this will come up)

My question is what does tor (or maybe its DuckDuckGo that is doing this) mean by this. Are they given YouTube my IP address? What exactly do they mean by "does not let you watch videos anonymously"?

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  • 2
    They can't give your IP address to youtube because duckduckgo doesn't know your IP address. They just mean Google will try to track you.
    – cacahuatl
    Commented Apr 10, 2017 at 1:26
  • 1
    Do not use any credentials that link to your identity while browsing on Tor.
    – Mithrandir
    Commented Apr 15, 2017 at 12:35

1 Answer 1

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The warning is from DuckDuckGo. It means that your browser still has to connect to YouTube even if you watch the video "here".

My question is what does DuckDuckGo mean by this. Are they given youtube my IP address? What exactly do they mean by "does not let you watch videos anonymously"?

Since you are using Tor, neither DuckDuckGo nor YouTube knows your IP address. The warning is mostly for users who aren't using Tor.

YouTube does not block Tor users, so you can actually watch videos anonymously.

There are still ways that YouTube/Google could use to track you, like tracking your behavior on their site (if you chose to watch the video on YouTube), or if you log in with a non-anonymous account (doesn't have to be on YouTube/Google, Google uses trackers on many sites).

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  • hi, im not satisfied by this answer. When i open tor browser "8.0.4 (based on Mozilla Firefox 60.4.0esr) (64 bits)", and browse to some video on youtube, i can not interact with the website. The javascript being disabled, it has became unusable. I would like to know a way to interact strictly anonymously with such kind of website. Enabling javascript seems a risk i am not wiling to take without a deeper understanding. Can you help clarify or provide some efficient alternative in this attempt to defend freedom of speach ? what are the risks beyond "i m naive, i use my IRL name".
    – mh-cbon
    Commented Jan 15, 2019 at 14:13
  • Youtube now does block Tor users.
    – Andry
    Commented Aug 8, 2021 at 19:07

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