To listen to the podcast version of memo click here —> Podcast Version

Many of you are not aware that there are many changes coming to YouTube, supposedly by December 10th.

Some of these changes relate to the The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). I don’t want to get into the details of that but, I urge everyone, especially content creators, to research those laws. The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, is poised to have dramatic, big brother level, oversight of internet content.

YouTube has also announced their plans to delete channels that are not “commercially viable.” This has not been fully explained yet. But, if you’re a content creator, whether a business using Youtube as a marketing vehicle, or you just upload videos for your own enjoyment, Youtube may be planning to delete your channel if it is not turning a profit for Youtube. That is the majority of people who upload videos.

I’m not being an alarmist here. The past 8 weeks me and my team and have been researching these changes. As always, I am trying to crystallize all of this down to actionable information you can use to protect your business and family.

So this can be a three-fold problem and goes beyond just your Youtube channel.

  • First problem: Youtube
    • You need to backup all of your YouTube content in case your YouTube channel is deleted. You should back these video files up on a local hard drive and also in the cloud as well. 
    • Also, you should create a backup channel on a site such as Bitchute.com. I do this. 
  • Second problem: GMail Accounts Linked To Your Youtube Account
    • Most of our Gmail accounts are linked to our Youtube channels. There’s been a lot of talk and murmurs that if your Youtube channel gets deleted, they might also take away your access to your related Gmail account.
  • Third problem: Google Drive Accounts Linked To Your GMail Account
    • Google Drive is another service linked to GMail. If you lose access to your GMail account, you will also lose access to Google Drive.

Now for business owners like me, who heavily rely on the entire Google ecosystem, this would be a disaster.

And again, I have no idea what Youtube is planning. My daily research though has made me concerned enough about this to create this memo.

My advice is to immediately back up all of your GMail, Google Drive & YouTube content locally on a server in your office or your home.

Again, I have no proof that any of this will definitely happen, but if the possibility exists, even remotely, that you can lose access to GMail, Google Drive & YouTube, then the prudent thing to do, as soon as possible, is to back up all of these services. Here is the link to backup everything in your GMail, Google Drive & Youtube spaces.

https://takeout.google.com/

There are many videos online already giving you more detailed instructions on this process so I won’t repeat them here.

Please take the time to back up any important data in any of these spaces. The tech companies do not have to answer to anyone, and we never know who can be deleted or for what reason.

Questions? Concerns? Call me on (732) 673-0510.

Please reach out to me without hesitation with any tax, business or

accounting question, and to schedule a consultation.

Tax Laws are complex.

It is very easy to make mistakes that can incur penalties.

Do you have a Tax, Accounting or Business Question?

Call Me Immediately. (732) 673-0510.

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ignoring your Phone Calls and Emails?

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Remember,

“If We Aren’t Working For You, Then You Aren’t Working At Your Best”

Chris Whalen, CPA
(732) 673-0510
81 Oak Hill Road
Red Bank, NJ 07701
www.chriswhalencpa.com

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