What I don't get, isn't GDPR supposed to make tracking opt-in? While most sites just give you the option to opt-out now! Isn't that a violation of GDPR?
"This means people must be able to refuse consent without detriment .... The GDPR is clear that consent should not be bundled up as a condition of service unless it is necessary for that service"
Source: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-da...
Makes me a bit annoyed now to have to go through a consent-wall like this - I can only imagine the management pouring over the "consent data" as some sort of new marketing metric about how engaged their audience is etc etc
Those consent walls are the expected consequence of GDPR.
People are given a real, free choice: Accept and access free contents or navigate away. There is no detriment and this is not a condition of sale.
One can go further and argue that consent is indeed in fact required to provide the service since this is free contents financed by ads.
If you finance your service through ads then consent is required because that's how your business works and ads are your income.
If you sell books online then indeed consent is not required and you cannot make ordering books subject to consent.
The GDPR does not state that consent cannot be exchanged for anything. The GDPR will look at whether consent is necessary for the performance of a contract and/or provision of service.
So the argument that this is allowed is two-fold:
- this is free content made publicly available: There is no contract or provision of service.
- this content is provided free thanks to ads: Consent is necessary to provide the contents.
The GDPR is not meant to force companies to work for free and it does not force them to.