Old hidden links from YouTube and Google Drive are made inaccessible

Google is making changes to the old links of hidden Google Drive files and hidden YouTube videos. It is quite possible that these can no longer be visited by others due to the changes.

Hidden links from Google Drive and YouTube

A major change is being made to Google Drive and YouTube. It has to do with the links that are made for files that should not be visible to everyone. The so-called hidden links are being overhauled, which means that others may no longer be able to access your previously shared files.

Google Drive

For starters, we have Google Drive. From now on, to access public or shared files, a link must be used, which by default also contains the source key. This should improve file security, according to Google. These are links that were shared before January 1, 2017. According to the company, these were made with an older system. From September 13, Google will take these kinds of links offline. The file itself is not pulled out of thin air. From that date, these are only available privately, without any opposition from the user. Google Drive files uploaded after January 1, 2017 are not affected by the change.

YouTube

Google is also making similar changes to YouTube. Users will now receive an email with information about this. Hidden videos uploaded before January 1 will be made private from July 23, 2021. The email contains a link to a page where you can see which videos this affects. Users get the following options from YouTube;

You have the following options for your older videos:

• Do nothing. Your affected videos will become private from July 23, 2021. Only you and the people you select can watch private videos. Keep in mind that the links to the hidden videos you’ve embedded or shared will no longer work if the videos were made private after July 23.
• Unsubscribe from this change. Please complete this form before July 23, 2021 to keep your outdated videos hidden. If you treat your hidden videos the same as your public videos (for example, if they’re embedded on third-party sites or shared on social media), we recommend that you don’t allow this change. In that case, the links to the outdated videos will continue to work, but without the benefits of this security update.
• Make your hidden videos public. You can also make a video public. Your video will then be visible to everyone on YouTube and will be shown in search results and lists of recommended or related videos.
• Re-upload as hidden video. If you want to keep your videos hidden but still want to take advantage of this security update, you will need to download them and upload them again as hidden through the new system. The data about the original upload, such as views and comments, will not be transferred. Also, you should update old links to embedded videos to the new video URLs.