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New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

dataprotectioncontrol.org

71–80 of 269 posts

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#71
post #7

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, unle…

"the banners are malicious compliance." I agree. But I don't think it's because adtech want you to think privacy is shit; I think it's because by compelling you to click, they can run Javascript in the context of a user gesture. I want a plugin that automatically says "OK" to cookie banners. My browser already blocks 3rd-party cookies. It only allows session cookies. Cookie banners are like fire-hydrant CAPTCHAs - th…

>I want a plugin that automatically says "OK" to cookie banners.

Why would you want that? Even if you delete 3rd-party cookies that would still allow tracking companies to log your IP and track you through some other shady means which you've now consented to.

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“ I want a plugin that automatically says "OK" to cookie banners.” Try “I don’t care about cookies” :) https://www.i-dont-care-about-cookies.eu/

Is this extension trustworthy? It is "recommended" and says GPL3 but there is no link to the source code anywhere.

The author doesn't publish the extension sources. https://reddit.com/comments/bru6wd/comment/eohtox3

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#73
post #7

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, unle…

> They want you to associate them with privacy, and conclude that privacy laws are pointless and should be repealed. This is a sentiment expressed surprisingly often even here on HN.

A huge proportion of posters either work at adware companies or are big time owners of adware stocks.

And as the Sinclair adage goes, it is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#74
post #8

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

> more javascript when we want less notice that if you disable javascript by default most cookie banners disappear and everything becomes better. Then you can enable it per-site if you need something in particular.

I tried that for a month, but most sites I encountered on search engines will just break or even refuse to render unless I enable JS. At first, I tried to leave the site and find an alternative, but after a while I found myself enabling JS on every site I visit that requires it, which negates the whole point.

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#75
post #8

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

> more javascript when we want less notice that if you disable javascript by default most cookie banners disappear and everything becomes better. Then you can enable it per-site if you need something in particular.

You should check out uMatrix to get even more fine grained control over sites.

I usually allow images on every page, that's it. Some need CSS, some need iframes, and a small subset of websites I visit are actual webapps that need javascript.

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#76

I've done some basic reading on GDPR but can't honestly say I have it completely figured out. Can someone help me out with a use case that I come across frequently? Selling tracking data to third parties is the kind of thing noone wants to actually opt in to, and what I imagine GDPR partially tries to combat. (among other things) What about site statistics keeping? If say a newspaper collects statistics about visitor…

Gather as little as you need, share it as little as you need, and keep it as long as you need to fulfil your customer's request. For anything else, get consent.

Any kind of private information you store or share needs consent.

This is why plausible.io doesn't require consent, but Google Analytics does.

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#78
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this extension trustworthy? It is "recommended" and says GPL3 but there is no link to the source code anywhere.

The author doesn't publish the extension sources. https://reddit.com/comments/bru6wd/comment/eohtox3

Their argument is that the extension as it's distributed is essentially a zip file containing the source code.

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#79

I wonder if this fight over cookies is just a diversion. If we ever get an effective law or tech for cookies, won't the advertisers just shrug and switch to browser fingerprinting? I feel like the only solution is to educate users about AdBlockers and stuff like NoScript.

GDPR actually applies to any kind of tracking, it's not just cookies. You also need consent do fingerprinting that can identify individual users, for example.

Re: New browser signal could make cookie banners obsolete

#80

I've done some basic reading on GDPR but can't honestly say I have it completely figured out. Can someone help me out with a use case that I come across frequently? Selling tracking data to third parties is the kind of thing noone wants to actually opt in to, and what I imagine GDPR partially tries to combat. (among other things) What about site statistics keeping? If say a newspaper collects statistics about visitor…

I'm not an expert but I have read the text. You should talk to an expert.

Having said that my understanding is you don't need consent if the information processed is not personally identifying. The gdpr text is also quite clear that consent is just one of a number of legal bases for processing pii and there are a whole bunch of provisos for relying on it (which are still ignored on most sites)

For your stats use case I think the best option would be to store and log anonymized stats that wouldn't be considered personally identifiable information. And then you shouldn't need a consent form.

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