Updated Terms of Service FAQs
Our most recent Terms of Service include updates on these specific topics: facial recognition data, YouTube’s right to monetize, and U.S. tax obligations. These Terms are effective in the United States starting November 2020, and outside the U.S. starting June 1, 2021.
At YouTube, we periodically update our Terms of Service to make sure they are clear, easy to understand and meet the needs of our partners, advertisers and viewers. With this update to our Terms of Service, we’re clarifying restrictions around the collection of facial recognition data. We also want to be transparent with you about the rights we take to run ads in various areas of our platform. For example, we run ads on videos, the homepage masthead, and in various search results. This update also clarifies how revenue payments from YouTube will be considered royalty payments from a U.S. tax perspective, and that Google will withhold taxes from these payments as required by law.
Changes from this Terms of Service update will not affect your YouTube Partner Program (YPP) monetization settings. Partners outside of the United States should submit complete tax info in AdSense as soon as possible to determine if any U.S. tax withholding applies to their payments. Google may begin withholding taxes on payments starting with the July 2021 payment (covering June earnings) if any withholding taxes apply. Visit our summary in the Help Center to learn more: U.S. tax requirements for YouTube earnings
