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Facebook could just ask its users "Do you agree to be tracked, even without your consent?" and they 'd still say yes. If it mattered, people would have switched

Facebook could just ask its users "Do you agree to be tracked, even without your consent?" and they 'd still say yes. If it mattered, people would have switched to one of the open source alternatives. This fine serves more as governmental virtue signaling than anything else.

chiefofgxbxl 9y ago
Sort of... but I don't think most users (those who are not technically-savvy) know the extent to which they are being tracked. The web has existed in the mainstream for how long now, and some of the people I know are just catching on to the concept of IP logging... Most web users don't know how deep the rabbit-hole goes, so to speak. Heck, even the Battery API [0] could be used to track users. A better question for Facebook to ask would be, "Do you agree to be tracked, even without your consent; we track your phone's battery, we track every web-page you visit via the Like button, we track ...". [0] http://wccftech.com/firefox-cuts-battery-api-privacy-concerns/ http://wccftech.com/firefox-cuts-battery-api-privacy-concern...
kbart 9y ago
It's illegal in EU to get a broad consent (aka "we will track you anytime, collect any data we like and do with it as we please"). EULA must state exactly what data is collected and how it will be used, also it must be retractable. You can joke as much as you like about "cookie law", but other privacy laws in EU quite formidable (probably the best in current world anyway). And they will be even stricter soon, as GDPR hits in.
- return0 9y ago
  and soon europeans will seek VPNs to access a banned facebook? I mean i fail to see how the cookie law has affected the broader internet in a positive way.
  - la_oveja 9y ago
    Cookie law is pretty much a joke, as the parent comment stated. But there are some serious and useful regulations in the EU that aren't a joke. And if FB is banned from Europe (which I highly doubt), the average user won't be able to put a VPN so they'll simply switch to a clone most probably. imho FB is only popular because of the vast userbase and content, not because it is a great platform. We've seen clones appear, get pretty popular and die because they can't sustain a large userbase.
fenwick67 9y ago
You don't have to be a Facebook user for Facebook to track you. They create "shadow profiles" for non-users.

chiefofgxbxl 9y ago

Sort of... but I don't think most users (those who are not technically-savvy) know the extent to which they are being tracked. The web has existed in the mainstream for how long now, and some of the people I know are just catching on to the concept of IP logging... Most web users don't know how deep the rabbit-hole goes, so to speak. Heck, even the Battery API [0] could be used to track users. A better question for Facebook to ask would be, "Do you agree to be tracked, even without your consent; we track your phone's battery, we track every web-page you visit via the Like button, we track ...". [0] http://wccftech.com/firefox-cuts-battery-api-privacy-concerns/ http://wccftech.com/firefox-cuts-battery-api-privacy-concern...

kbart 9y ago

It's illegal in EU to get a broad consent (aka "we will track you anytime, collect any data we like and do with it as we please"). EULA must state exactly what data is collected and how it will be used, also it must be retractable. You can joke as much as you like about "cookie law", but other privacy laws in EU quite formidable (probably the best in current world anyway). And they will be even stricter soon, as GDPR hits in.

return0 9y ago
and soon europeans will seek VPNs to access a banned facebook? I mean i fail to see how the cookie law has affected the broader internet in a positive way.
- la_oveja 9y ago
  Cookie law is pretty much a joke, as the parent comment stated. But there are some serious and useful regulations in the EU that aren't a joke. And if FB is banned from Europe (which I highly doubt), the average user won't be able to put a VPN so they'll simply switch to a clone most probably. imho FB is only popular because of the vast userbase and content, not because it is a great platform. We've seen clones appear, get pretty popular and die because they can't sustain a large userbase.

fenwick67 9y ago

You don't have to be a Facebook user for Facebook to track you. They create "shadow profiles" for non-users.