Ask HN: Shouldn't web browsers ask us before storing cookies?

Note that the GDPR isn’t just about cookies, it’s about all collection of personalized information, in any form. It also outlines plenty of scenarios that don’t require a separate permission request beyond simply doing business with a company.

We’re only in the midgame of this particular regulation— the rules changed “suddenly” and specified outcomes rather than methods. Regulators and businesses are in the messy stage of negotiating best practices as businesses change as little as possible and regulators give fines for misconduct.

The hope is twofold: that enough users will opt out to make problematic business models less profitable, and that the lower user friction of models that don’t require tracking will become relatively more successful. Neither of these goals is served by allowing a blanket permission setting.

The GDPR consent prompts are less about technicalities (are you using cookies or local storage) and more about giving the side permission to stalk you no matter what method they use.

The real problem here is the lack of enforcement of the regulations. The majority of GDPR consent prompts are obnoxious because they aren't actually compliant - compliant ones are much more pleasant. See this comment I just posted on another GDPR thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21429666

Finally there's this misconception (it could be a lie perpetuated by companies looking to profit from GDPR-related consulting, or those looking to push back on the regulation by making it seem more annoying than it actually is) that all cookies require consent. That is blatantly false. Cookies to store site preferences (like language, font size), shopping carts or login sessions don't require consent as they're necessary for the functionality you're trying to use.

As I remember it, this was an option you could enable in Netscape Navigator back in the dialup days. In practice it meant that every time you went to a new website you'd have to click ok on a dozen popup menus asking for permission to store each individual cookie before the page would load. I'm sure there are ways to make that process go a little more smoothly but in practice it's still probably something that most users would immediately turn right off.

You don't need 120 separate questions, just a single list with all 120 cookies and their domains, with a checkbox next to each one and some "select/deselect all" buttons.

I honestly can’t figure out how these popups became so prevalent. They’re so obviously not compliant not just with the fine print of GDPR but with its spirit.

Even if you’re completely cynical about being compliant with GDPR I would imagine that not having popups like that at all is more compliant or less likely to get you in trouble than having those flagrantly-non-compliant ones...