What it does
Google currently describes `YSC` as a security cookie that helps ensure requests during a browsing session are made by the user and not by another site. It lasts for the browsing session. Record the observed host and player context as well, because a cookie name alone does not establish which embed action caused it.
What to write in a cookie declaration
List it with the rest of the YouTube set, with "session" as the expiry.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | YSC |
| Provider | YouTube |
| Purpose category | media |
| Consent category | Media |
| Expiry | Session (vendor default) |
| Storage | Third-party |
Treat the expiry as indicative
The value above is the vendor’s documented default. Vendors change configuration and several browsers cap script-written lifetimes. Record what repeated scans observe on your own site, with the browser, region, path and interaction state; one run is not authoritative for every visitor.
Can a visitor refuse it?
Yes, in media, and the same click-to-load pattern applies.
A verification scan supplies runtime evidence for the pages and states it exercises. Test a fresh profile with no choice made, then after refusal, and reconcile observed storage with response headers, server-side integrations and paths the scan did not visit.
Common questions
Is a session cookie exempt?
Only where it is strictly necessary for a service the visitor requested. A video embed the visitor has not yet clicked is not that.
Sources and verification
Verified on . Product-behaviour statements were checked against the current implementation and tests. The links below are the verification basis recorded for this article. They support the stated facts, not a legal conclusion for every site or configuration; recheck changing vendor behaviour before relying on it in production.
- YouTube Help: privacy-enhanced embedded players
Vendor documentation
Checked
- Google: how Google uses cookies
Vendor documentation
Checked
See what your own site is loading
A browser scan reports the requests and storage it observed during the sampled journey. Use configured workspace scans to compare the states and pages that matter to your implementation.