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People who press on cookie banners anything except “agree” – why do you do that?

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Re: People who press on cookie banners anything except “agree” – why do you do that?

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fortunately, we have replaced the tracker removal cat and mouse game with a consent banner cat and mouse game, projected forever. Problem solved, am I right? ;)

Well, yes, law enforcement in general is a cat-and-mouse game. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have any laws.

I 100% agree, but I feel like the proliferation of consent banners was predictable and if people didn't want it, the law should have initially accounted for it.

Assuming people would just log less was hopelessly naive (especially given that apache defaults already do enough logging to run afoul of the GDPR).

Re: People who press on cookie banners anything except “agree” – why do you do that?

#172
I ignore cookie banners. If they get in the way of content I remove them. I don't interact with them at all. I handle cookies in my own way. First party cookies are accepted and kept for a little while, the rest are blocked.

Re: People who press on cookie banners anything except “agree” – why do you do that?

#173
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft pulled an Apple and turned DNT into opt-in. Advertisers were very clear that they would only honor DNT if it people were tracked by default. The EU then passed a bill that said you can't collect data unless it's for one of six reasons, one of which is "user consent". This basically mandated opt-in, so everyone went super-aggressive on consent banners (which, BTW, are probably illegal).

Consent popups are legal so long as agreeing is not easier than disagreeing. Iow, you cannot make it harder to disagree - which 99.95% of them do.

Also, "consent" has a specific meaning in GDPR, see article 4(11) [0]:

> Consent of the data subject means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her.

Which is why I suspect almost all "cookie banners" are worthless. They don't give a clear, informed consent, so the site operator is still not allowed to use the data for anything at all.

0: https://gdpr.eu/article-4-definitions/

Re: People who press on cookie banners anything except “agree” – why do you do that?

#174

I set Do Not Track (DNT) header on my browser. That is my answer, and any company who asks my consent for tracking cookies anyway is /already/ violating my consent by ignoring my my clear and standard communication. Anyone who repeatedly askes for consent when boundaries have clearly been established should never be trusted. So I ask, why would I ever accept? To get them to stop asking is never the right answer.

> I set Do Not Track (DNT) header on my browser. I never understood the point of that. Asking companies who want to collect your data to "pretty please don't" when there's no oversight or accountability should they decide to ignore your plea makes DNT a waste of bandwidth. It's worthless. Even the companies who would respect your choice have to track you long enough to remember that you've asked them not to track you…

It's your assumption that I don't do anything else.

Imagine it like this: DNT is a "No Trespassing" sign.

Do no trespassing signs actually stop anyone from trespassing? No.

In this case, I use it as a tool to judge who clearly rejects my request to not be tracked, not stop them from tracking me.

Re: People who press on cookie banners anything except “agree” – why do you do that?

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're talking about the businesses' motivations and I'm talking about the random EU bureaucrats that imposed the regulations. Despite how skeptical I am of most government interventions, I'd tend to assign benign intentions on the bureaucrats part here as I'd have to guess that they genuinely wanted to do something good. But like any bureaucrats sitting in their ivory towers imposing rules on others, the maj…

> imposing rules on others, the majority of their rules have unintended consequences, can be taken advantage of, are usually designed by committees It's a valid critique, so here goes: how would you implement it to avoid those?

Make it part of the browser, not the website.

Re: People who press on cookie banners anything except “agree” – why do you do that?

#177
The EU really should update the cookie law so that it applies to browsers, not sites.

After all the browser's cooperation is needed to send cookies. This should be a mandatory standard part of the browser UI.

Since there are just two browser engines in widespread consumer use, and the engines are made by two of the world's most valuable corporations (Google and Apple), requiring browsers to implement specific UI is both technically easy and politically convenient.

Re: People who press on cookie banners anything except “agree” – why do you do that?

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Preach! What we ultimately need is just a law that says it is illegal for companies to collect or store any data for marketing purposes, tracking, or resale. No opt ins, no exceptions. Unfortunately we can't fully kill targeted or unsolicited advertising at the root because of freedom of speech issues, but we can eliminate all the data it depends on.

why do you dislike targeted advertising?

I think it's less the targeted advertising, and more like I can't take 5 internet steps today without 40 people shouting at me to buy their diapers because my partner googled "diapers" last night.

Re: People who press on cookie banners anything except “agree” – why do you do that?

#179
If a site doesn't have a Reject button, what I do is: Copy URL. Open Private Browsing window. Paste and go. Right-click on banner. Choose Inspect. Select parent element. Right-Click. Select "Delete element"

That is often less work than to have to go through some sites' cookie settings forms...

... but I wish I had a plug-in that did it in a more automated way. I'd want to just right-click and select "Remove this element" (but I'd name it something less polite...).

And the next step: Collect statistics about clicks and display a public list of shame. Then each month, send a strongly worded letter (regular mail) to the operator of the next site that got the worst rating in the past month (and didn't get a letter less than six months before).

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