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Comment by whywhywhywhy | Hacker News Reader

I do wish iPhones could use alternate browser engines and bypass the Apple 30% cut, but the fact I'm having to click through one of those stupid cookie dialogs on this page just leaves the bad taste in my mouth of how much the EU regulation screwed up the internet the last time they made a change like this.

Not saying I want tracking cookies everywhere, but they should have just made tracking cookies illegal outright, rather than legal if people agree meaning I have to dismiss thousands of cookie dialogs a year.

Because they were incompetent in writing their legislation, they doomed us to cookie dialogs for the rest of my life.

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the cookie law should have ended up with a browser setting. but eu bureaucrats apparently don’t know the first thing about web standards (and why would they) so we get every single website in the world having to code a custom dialog, and billions of users having to click through them forever. this legislation is the eu cookie law writ large: well meaning, ill conceived, government overreach by bureaucrats who don’t represent or understand the companies being affected. it’s a sad state of affairs when the most significant contribution of europe to technology is not technology, but bad legislation with massive global implications.

No, the EU knew that something like a DNT header could never work. And let's not forget: No one needs a cookie popup. If you don't track more than technically necessary, there's no need to get consent or inform the user. It's just that everyone likes to collect as much data as they can that these popups are necessary.

This thinking is why we must dismiss multiple of these dialogs daily.

It could and should have been a setting.

you're really painting it.

in America, as a website, you're still perfectly allowed to use marketing cookies without permission, or just not provide the option of saying no. taking away that privilege is "government overreach"?

gdpr is also much bigger than just cookies. it's also a wide-ranging law forcing companies to more careful with your data and delete it if you ask

the EU politicians rightly do not represent the companies affected

You are mistaken.

Firstly, as all should know by now there is no need to give a cookie warning for any technical cookies. This means whenever it is there it is provided because the website provider thought they need a third party tracking to manage ads or get customer info.

Secondly, the way the banners are designed is the problem, not that the banners are there. A few large providers (notably Google and an adtech alliance) have standardised intrusive, bad-default and dark-pattern heavy cookie banners. If this was a single well-remembered click on each site no one would mind, the problem is that the providers want to make it painful so you start to just click 'accept' to get it over with.

> If this was a single well-remembered click on each site no one would mind, the problem is that the providers want to make it painful so you start to just click 'accept' to get it over with.

God bless any website with a simple Reject All button.

We need a privacy API that browsers agree on and websites would have to follow, when present. Uniform dialogs per browser for this crap, rather than unique per website.

I left Europe before the full enforcement of this cookies dialog and everytime I spend time there I'm like: how can anyone accept this state of affairs

More and more website do not have this Cookie warning simply because they choose to not collect enormous amounts of user data.

One example: https://github.blog/2020-12-17-no-cookie-for-you/

The cookie law could've been better but there's not law that says you need this banner, only that you need it if you collect an unnecessary amount of data from your users.

You left Europe because of consumer protection laws? To solve a problem that is actually global and, if it really bothers you, can be solved with a browser plugins that clicks yes?

Rather odd choice, but everyone has their priority I suppose.

Exactly my situation. I was there for a business trip a couple of weeks ago and all those dialogs make the experience of web horrible.

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