(Privacy Not Included)

Summary

The video argues that companies’ privacy claims—especially in sponsored YouTube ads—can conflict with their privacy policies. The narrator focuses on how California privacy law distinguishes sharing personal information from selling it, then applies those definitions to Zocdoc, Ground News, and Monarch.

How the video explains “sharing” and “selling”

Using a hypothetical online store, the narrator illustrates four situations:

• First-party cookies: A website stores information on a visitor’s device for its own use, such as remembering shopping-cart contents. The narrator says this alone is not a sale or sharing under the legal definitions discussed.
• Third-party cookies: Another website’s advertising code can place a cookie that both sites can access. The narrator says this involves information being shared, but is not necessarily a legal sale or share by itself.
• Targeted advertising: An advertising network uses information gathered across websites to target ads. The narrator says this qualifies as sharing under California law, even if the advertiser receives no payment or other benefit in return.
• Data exchanged for a benefit: If a company gives an advertising partner customer information in exchange for something valuable—such as discounted ad placement—the narrator says that can qualify as a sale. The benefit need not be cash.

According to the video, businesses that sell or share personal information must disclose that practice, provide a “Do Not Sell or Share” mechanism, and honor opt-outs, including Global Privacy Control requests. The narrator emphasizes that these are legal definitions; vague marketing terms such as “private” may not have the same precise legal meaning.

Examples of sponsors’ data practices

• Zocdoc: The narrator cites its policy as covering information such as IP address, device details, web interactions, gender, birth date, and location. Zocdoc says it does not sell users’ information to unaffiliated parties for money, but acknowledges that sharing cookies and other web data with advertising partners may count as selling or sharing under some state laws.
• Ground News: The narrator says its policy permits sharing or selling information such as email address, IP address, phone number, name, and advertiser IDs used by Meta and Google. The narrator criticizes this practice because the service is paid and because the data could be matched with information gathered elsewhere. The video also criticizes Meta’s broader use of personal data and its engagement-driven content systems.

The central case: Monarch

Monarch is presented as a budgeting app whose advertisements repeatedly describe it as “private,” “ad-free,” and as never selling users’ data.

The narrator acknowledges that Monarch’s financial-data claim may be technically narrower than its broader privacy messaging: the service shares some information with vendors needed to operate its features, and its policy says those vendors use the information for Monarch. But the narrator argues that the overall “private” and “doesn’t sell your data” messaging is misleading because the policy also says Monarch may disclose information to advertising partners in ways that qualify as a sale or sharing under state laws.

The video lists information the policy says may go to advertising partners, including:

• Name and email address
• User and advertising identifiers
• IP address and device information
• Web analytics and referring-page information
• Demographic details, such as age, gender, and location
• Web-page interaction information

The narrator also flags Monarch’s use of session-replay technology, which can record how people navigate its site. The video says the policy does not establish that session-replay recordings themselves are provided to advertisers, but web-interaction data is included in the policy’s disclosures.

The narrator further argues that Monarch’s policy and promotional materials conflict:

• The policy reportedly says advertising-partner disclosures may constitute a sale or sharing under state privacy laws, and offers a form for opting out.
• Monarch’s press materials, app-store listings, website, and sponsored creator reads are cited as saying that it does not sell users’ data.
• The narrator says the policy changed in October 2024 to acknowledge possible sales or sharing, while some promotional claims continued afterward.
• The video reports reviewing 70 Monarch-sponsored videos, 21 of which claimed that user data was not sold. The narrator argues that the repetition suggests creators may have been given common talking points.

The narrator compares Monarch’s alleged pattern of privacy assurances paired with advertising-related disclosures to BetterHelp’s past conduct, noting that the FTC took action against BetterHelp in 2023 over disclosures to advertising platforms.

Recommendations and takeaways

• For creators: Verify privacy claims against the actual policy before repeating them in a sponsorship. The narrator says creators should disclose sponsorships and have a reasonable basis for claims under FTC endorsement guidance. If a sponsorship cannot be dropped, creators can ask to omit privacy-related talking points.
• For viewers: Avoid harassing creators. The narrator says sponsorship contracts may be arranged well in advance and creators may themselves have been misled; the primary criticism is directed at the companies.
• For users of the services: Review privacy policies and use available “Do Not Sell or Share” forms and opt-out controls. The video also recommends filing complaints with the FTC and California privacy regulators where appropriate.
• For managing subscriptions: The narrator suggests using a spreadsheet rather than paying for a subscription-management service.

Speakers and sources featured

• Reject Convenience narrator — the primary speaker and author of the analysis.
• Unnamed YouTube creators — included in a montage of sponsored Monarch advertisements making privacy and data-selling claims; the transcript does not identify them by name.
• Company policies and materials discussed: Zocdoc, Ground News, Monarch, Signal, Meta/Facebook, and BetterHelp.
• Legal and regulatory sources discussed: California privacy-law definitions, the California Privacy Protection Agency, the California Attorney General, and FTC rules and endorsement guidance.
• Additional documents referenced: Monarch’s privacy policy, press and “fast facts” materials, pricing and privacy/security pages, and Apple App Store and Google Play Store listings.