Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

dataprotectioncontrol.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 269 posts

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#3

Post by gmueckl »

I don't see how this will be adopted without backing by legal threats. Even if this gets implemented on a voluntary basis, you need a fallback for browsers that don't support it. And if you need to have a version of the prompt with a user experience that isn't controlled by the browser, you might just as well use it to keep pushing the same dark patterns to everyone. Am I missing something?

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#5

Post by mkreis »

gmueckl wrote: post #3

I don't see how this will be adopted without backing by legal threats. Even if this gets implemented on a voluntary basis, you need a fallback for browsers that don't support it. And if you need to have a version of the prompt with a user experience that isn't controlled by the browser, you might just as well use it to keep pushing the same dark patterns to everyone. Am I missing something?

I agree. Why would anyone who wants to track users implement this standard and abandon their dark patterns?

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#6

Post by vbezhenar »

gmueckl wrote: post #3

I don't see how this will be adopted without backing by legal threats. Even if this gets implemented on a voluntary basis, you need a fallback for browsers that don't support it. And if you need to have a version of the prompt with a user experience that isn't controlled by the browser, you might just as well use it to keep pushing the same dark patterns to everyone. Am I missing something?

Cookie banners works because they're everywhere and user has been trained to dismiss them as soon as possible. If this technology would get traction from major players, cookie banners will become an exception rather than norm. It means that users will be scared of those banners and might prefer to leave the website which will hurt the conversion.

If this movement is not backed by major web players, probably nothing will happen.

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#7

Post by pornel »

Reminder that we've already had a spec for it. In the 90s! And it even has been implemented in the Internet Explorer: https://www.w3.org/P3P/ It did absolutely nothing for privacy. Google has been sending bogus P3P headers that broke IE's implementation and allowed all cookies.

Adtech companies don't want users to have an easy opt-out. They didn't want P3P. They didn't want DNT. They will not want this new spec, unless the spec is so bad that most users will agree by accident.

The annoying and confusing cookie banners are a feature. Besides making people agree through confusion or attrition, the banners are malicious compliance. Adtech companies putting them up want you to be pissed off at the banners. They want you to associate them with privacy, and conclude that privacy laws are pointless and should be repealed.

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#8

Post by juloo »

Why do they still think we want tracking cookies ? The ad industry should prepare for a future with no tracking instead of trying to survive with ever shadier tricks, IMO.

This won't work:

- browsers other than Chrome will say "no tracking" by default, tracking companies won't like that

- websites will ignore this, this will be known and people will be upset even more

- more javascript when we want less

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#9

Post by deepstack »

Instead of blocking cookies, work on more stuff that will block finger printing such as stuff that is mentioned in https://www.nothingprivate.ml

One spec could be split up the JS api into stuff that manipulate the dom and stuff that access GPU and other hardwares that may identify the browser or machine. Safari seems to be the only one that is doing anything in that area.

Post reply on HN