Live data from Hacker News

Stop whining about “The EU Cookie Policy” and improve your ways

social.wildeboer.net

231–240 of 272 posts

Re: Stop whining about “The EU Cookie Policy” and improve your ways

#231

Ideally browsers would have an API to handle GDPR requests natively, the way they do for hardware access, and users would be able to set the default level of access, as well as lists of exceptions for some domains. Of course, Google will never provide such API in Chrome as it would be bad for their core business of spying on people in order to sell them more stuff.

It exists, and it's called the DNT header. It was deprecated because ironically, it was used for user fingerprinting.

It was also widely ignored.

Not much has changed since browsers had to remove the capability to create popup windows (and pop-unders, which only existed because users were getting too proficient at the game of whackamole). At every single step, the industry has shown it will only behave anywhere near reasonably when externally forced to do so.

DNT should have solved this problem, but the leopard couldn't change its spots, and used it to further its attacks on users instead.

And this is why we have over-reaching regulation. Not because we want it, but because we earned it.

Re: Stop whining about “The EU Cookie Policy” and improve your ways

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

7 years of complaining about it hasn't changed that. Do you think another 7 years will be more effective? Alternatively, the EU could change the laws. Or enforce the existing ones.

> 7 years of complaining about it hasn't changed that. Funnily how "7 years of complaining" was, and continues to be, only about the EU. Not about the predatory businesses creating these banners (often in direct violation of GDPR). > Or enforce the existing ones. That's definitely the biggest criticism you can level at EU: they are too slow in enforcing this. I think the tide is very slowly changing. First they start…

>was, and continues to be, only about the EU. Not about the predatory businesses creating these banners

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17679596

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25457469

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30982470

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23090393

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29529062

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19381063

All of these links have comments against this sentiment.

Re: Stop whining about “The EU Cookie Policy” and improve your ways

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes because reading and interpreting an 11 chapter 99 section law is really simple… So now every website owner should have to consult a lawyer who his technical enough to understand the intricacies of the law?

Mmmmm... There's a lot of tutorials about the general guidelines of GDPR on internet. Then: - either it's a simple website for fun... and then, why is tracking users so vital? - or it's a real business, with real money... and then you should have a lawyer anyway for GDPR and others

So I’m going to trust a random website with a general overview?

And the alternative is to have to pay lawyers every time I want to start a business on the web?

And people wonder why the tech scene in the EU is so far behind…

Re: Stop whining about “The EU Cookie Policy” and improve your ways

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mmmmm... There's a lot of tutorials about the general guidelines of GDPR on internet. Then: - either it's a simple website for fun... and then, why is tracking users so vital? - or it's a real business, with real money... and then you should have a lawyer anyway for GDPR and others

So I’m going to trust a random website with a general overview? And the alternative is to have to pay lawyers every time I want to start a business on the web? And people wonder why the tech scene in the EU is so far behind…

I still don't get the argument.

> And the alternative is to have to pay lawyers every time I want to start a business on the web?

I thought it was pretty commonplace to hire a lawyer to draft various application, bylaws, policies and stuff like that when founding a company, online or not.

> Yes because reading and interpreting an 11 chapter 99 section law is really simple…

GDPR really is very simple at the core: you are not allowed to collect personal information, unless. 99% of it are definitions of those exceptions.

Re: Stop whining about “The EU Cookie Policy” and improve your ways

#236
post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But in practice, website owners are worried about breaking laws That is weird argument. If one genuinely cannot bother to read the law or does not feel capable of fully comprehending the law why don't they simply consult a lawyer? Hiring professional accountants is somehow standard practice.

> why don't they simply consult a lawyer? Sure. Are you offering to pay?

Do coupons for your hosting provider count as payment?

Re: Stop whining about “The EU Cookie Policy” and improve your ways

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I’m going to trust a random website with a general overview? And the alternative is to have to pay lawyers every time I want to start a business on the web? And people wonder why the tech scene in the EU is so far behind…

I still don't get the argument. > And the alternative is to have to pay lawyers every time I want to start a business on the web? I thought it was pretty commonplace to hire a lawyer to draft various application, bylaws, policies and stuff like that when founding a company, online or not. > Yes because reading and interpreting an 11 chapter 99 section law is really simple… GDPR really is very simple at the core: you…

> I thought it was pretty commonplace to hire a lawyer to draft various application, bylaws, policies and stuff like that when founding a company, online or not.

No it’s not. You can go to nolo.com and pay less than $300 to get incorporated

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/forming-corporation

Even if you choose to hire a lawyer to do it, it’s a relatively simple process and it would cost a lot more to hire a lawyer who knows the technicalities of something like the GDPR and whether it’s applicable to your website.

Should I also include the lawyer in my product planning meeting?

> GDPR really is very simple at the core: you are not allowed to collect personal information, unless. 99% of it are definitions of those exceptions.

If it’s so simple, then why is it 99 sections and 11 chapter.

Re: Stop whining about “The EU Cookie Policy” and improve your ways

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 7 years of complaining about it hasn't changed that. Funnily how "7 years of complaining" was, and continues to be, only about the EU. Not about the predatory businesses creating these banners (often in direct violation of GDPR). > Or enforce the existing ones. That's definitely the biggest criticism you can level at EU: they are too slow in enforcing this. I think the tide is very slowly changing. First they start…

>was, and continues to be, only about the EU. Not about the predatory businesses creating these banners https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17679596 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25457469 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30982470 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23090393 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29529062 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19381063 All of these links have comments against…

I will admit that there's also a slowly grown understanding of where the cookie banners come from, so it's not "100% blame the EU".

This comment from one o the linked discussions sums it up well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29529190

Re: Stop whining about “The EU Cookie Policy” and improve your ways

#239
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why it isn't solved in this way: You get a banner on your first visit, with a list "here are all the cookies and ways how we use your data, if you are not fine with it, please leave this website" This should be an option for small private websites (different rules for FB, Google and alike), because no one forces you to use a site, same as "my house, my rules"

> "my house, my rules" A website is in no way "your house".

Regardless of the silent downvotes, it's still true.

Re: Stop whining about “The EU Cookie Policy” and improve your ways

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Toot/thread author here. You are of course right. I couldn't pack all details in those toots. I had to break it down to the absolute basics that are often misunderstood: Not every cookie needs consent. The way this is presented nowadays in these popups is deliberately misleading and trying to move the blame to some anonymous political entity when in reality it simply isn't that way.

Are mastadon posts really called toots or is this a joke?

They are. It's not a joke.
Post reply on HN