Ask HN: Do I need to inform visitors about LocalStorage? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Do I need to inform visitors about LocalStorage?

8 pointsnealrs5 comments

So for the past year or so, I've been noticing all these new "we use cookies" banners. Whether regulatory or trend-driven, it 's nice to see some transparent about what & why sites are tracking me. But, do these same policies apply to Local Storage? Sure, the data is stored on the client's machine, but I could still use that data to inform my app (e.g. sending uuids along with events to google analytics).

Is there an expectation that LS is truly private? Should sites be informing users that they will be storing user data in their browser?

View on HN

In theory is the law applies as well. In practice I've never seen it mentioned on a website.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_on_Privacy_and_Elect...

"The article is technology neutral, not naming any specific technological means which may be used to store data, but applies to any information that a website causes to stored in a user's browser. This reflects the EU legislator’s desire to leave the regime of the directive open to future technological developments."

OK, it really doesn't matter what tech you're using. You should be asking for affirmative consent if you're storing data that can affect privacy. Of course, _everything_ affects privacy these days, so even the exemptions for shopping cart data are kind of silly.

Cookies is a pretty household term - but distinct from local storage, so I wonder if sites are using that as a loophole.

My sites use local storage and I inform the user - consider the possibility someone is using a public computer and you've stored locally what they though was private.

I feel like it depends on the audience of your product. In a general consumer product it might actually be more confusing given your user might have no idea how "any of that stuff" works.

I don't think I've ever encountered an app that's let me know in advance about its use of localStorage.

I would implement pre mature optimization if I were you.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com