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

Sigh, this is what browsing the web in the EU looks like nowadays (2021)

mmazzarolo.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 197 posts

Re: Sigh, this is what browsing the web in the EU looks like nowadays (2021)

#101

Post by 23B1 »

danudey wrote: post #86
nottorp wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All they have to do is stop tracking us and only use login cookies if i log in. Simple enough. Any other cookies are not "table stakes".

Website analytics can be incredibly useful for designers and developers; giving those up would be a huge hit to a lot of companies, large and small, so it's understandable that they're not going to do so. Random example from more than a decade ago: I worked at an online retailer, and we did a nice redesign of our cart page. Looked great, much more readable, but we started losing sales. Did people hate the redesign? I…

> Website analytics can be incredibly useful for designers and developers

I'd have sympathy for these people if they weren't also primarily responsible for the many darkpatterns, traps, and user-hostile aspects of modern interactivity.

Re: Sigh, this is what browsing the web in the EU looks like nowadays (2021)

#102

Post by zeroonetwothree »

probably_wrong wrote: post #41

Disclaimer: I actually click through the "do not consent" procedure, which tells a lot about what I'm about to say. When the EU regulation came up, I was shocked that a single article was being shared with 100+ "partners". I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. At least now I get the choice to opt-out. Sidenote: Google got fined for that pop-up because it should have a "do not accept" option [1]. Compa…

No, they are putting them there because it’s easier and they don’t want to be fined.

Re: Sigh, this is what browsing the web in the EU looks like nowadays (2021)

#103

Post by foobarian »

Kovah wrote: post #21

Instead of hating the EU, how about directing your hate towards the bad players of the web? Cookie banners are not the fault of the EU, but the fault of companies disrespecting privacy rights and pushing data collection, ads and all possible shady growth hacking strategies towards the user. I am glad that a government body actually made this possible and made visible how horrible the internet is.

> how about directing your hate towards the bad players of the web?

That's like hating a rock for rolling downhill. Regulation is the only way.

Re: Sigh, this is what browsing the web in the EU looks like nowadays (2021)

#104

Post by fleventynine »

usrnm wrote: post #77
fleventynine wrote: post #30

To align incentives, maybe it's time we start paying for the web content we consume with money.

You assume that corporations won't just take your money and continue to track you anyway.

Maybe, but by being a paying customer with lots of options (including collective negotiation), you have a lot more leverage to get them to do what you want.

Re: Sigh, this is what browsing the web in the EU looks like nowadays (2021)

#105

Post by sublinear »

probably_wrong wrote: post #41

Disclaimer: I actually click through the "do not consent" procedure, which tells a lot about what I'm about to say. When the EU regulation came up, I was shocked that a single article was being shared with 100+ "partners". I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. At least now I get the choice to opt-out. Sidenote: Google got fined for that pop-up because it should have a "do not accept" option [1]. Compa…

> Companies know they don't need those pop-ups. They are putting them there to anger you and demand for things to go back.

You're giving these companies much more credit than they deserve. They're just going through the motions in an attempt to avoid lawsuits, but clearly not even Google can get it right 100%.

Hanlon's razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

Re: Sigh, this is what browsing the web in the EU looks like nowadays (2021)

#107

Post by hyperman1 »

danudey wrote: post #86
nottorp wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All they have to do is stop tracking us and only use login cookies if i log in. Simple enough. Any other cookies are not "table stakes".

Website analytics can be incredibly useful for designers and developers; giving those up would be a huge hit to a lot of companies, large and small, so it's understandable that they're not going to do so. Random example from more than a decade ago: I worked at an online retailer, and we did a nice redesign of our cart page. Looked great, much more readable, but we started losing sales. Did people hate the redesign? I…

The EU allows you to get stuff like 1024x768 without tracking individuals. This metric works just as well in aggregate. You can have metrics without per user id, or with an ephemeral id that evaporates when you leave the site.

Re: Sigh, this is what browsing the web in the EU looks like nowadays (2021)

#108

Post by RcouF1uZ4gsC »

probably_wrong wrote: post #41

Disclaimer: I actually click through the "do not consent" procedure, which tells a lot about what I'm about to say. When the EU regulation came up, I was shocked that a single article was being shared with 100+ "partners". I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. At least now I get the choice to opt-out. Sidenote: Google got fined for that pop-up because it should have a "do not accept" option [1]. Compa…

>Companies know they don't need those pop-ups. They are putting them there to anger you and demand for things to go back. Do you want to blame the EU for not anticipating that companies would act maliciously? Sounds fair to me. But don't let the companies off the hook for acting maliciously!

This gets repeated a lot. However, even one of the pages on the official site of the EU has a cookie banner:

https://commission.europa.eu/index_en

Is the EU itself acting maliciously in putting up that cookie banner?

Re: Sigh, this is what browsing the web in the EU looks like nowadays (2021)

#109

Post by RcouF1uZ4gsC »

Kovah wrote: post #21

Instead of hating the EU, how about directing your hate towards the bad players of the web? Cookie banners are not the fault of the EU, but the fault of companies disrespecting privacy rights and pushing data collection, ads and all possible shady growth hacking strategies towards the user. I am glad that a government body actually made this possible and made visible how horrible the internet is.

This gets repeated a lot. However, even one of the pages on the official site of the EU has a cookie banner:

https://commission.europa.eu/index_en

Is the EU itself acting maliciously in putting up that cookie banner?

Re: Sigh, this is what browsing the web in the EU looks like nowadays (2021)

#110

Post by pcan77 »

sublinear wrote: post #105
probably_wrong wrote: post #41

Disclaimer: I actually click through the "do not consent" procedure, which tells a lot about what I'm about to say. When the EU regulation came up, I was shocked that a single article was being shared with 100+ "partners". I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. At least now I get the choice to opt-out. Sidenote: Google got fined for that pop-up because it should have a "do not accept" option [1]. Compa…

> Companies know they don't need those pop-ups. They are putting them there to anger you and demand for things to go back. You're giving these companies much more credit than they deserve. They're just going through the motions in an attempt to avoid lawsuits, but clearly not even Google can get it right 100%. Hanlon's razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

incorrect; they are demanding that you download their app. "See! Our mobile experience isn't good, you need the app!!"
Post reply on HN