I wonder if they are also doing this to get around the GDPR related cookies stuff. Don't need to have a banner if you don't use cookies. I assume this would also apply to sites using Google Analytics as well
GDPR is actually technology agnostic, it doesn't mention cookies or any other technology. If you store extra PII in any way, cookies, fingerprinting, localstorage or whatever you need to ask for consent with opt-in.