Hacker News Reader

This was an option, and it seems the uk wanted do not track or browser settings to change in time for this but it didnt happen. If it does the guidelines will change.

You can set your browser to do that; but making it the default will make too may sites unsable (e.g sites with shopping carts, banking sites etc.)

Possibly, but how is the ICO supposed to regular browser vendors?

The exactly same way there are attempting to regulate website owners - by passing a nonsense law that will do nothing to solve any real privacy concerns.

The ICO has the power to force browser vendors with a UK presence to implement this at the browser level. I wonder why they didn't? Short-sightedness? Or perhaps they knew that Google/Mozilla/Microsoft are more capable of presenting a unified front to fight this, compared to however many thousands of web developers are affected.

More likely those companies already lobbied the hell out of the situation and got people to make it someone else's problem.