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You keep using this when people complain about GDPR consent banners. We get it, cookies are bad and privacy needs to be protected. It's just a really disingenu

You keep using this when people complain about GDPR consent banners. We get it, cookies are bad and privacy needs to be protected. It's just a really disingenuous and dismissive comparison. Nobody is complaining about flashlights. GDPR may have been necessary, but the complete garbage heap of an experience the popups have turned the web into is worth lamenting.

Bakary 6y ago
>It's just a really disingenuous and dismissive comparison. Nobody is complaining about flashlights. I don't make that comparison lightly. I'm not dismissing the issue: it is a serious problem that is widespread over the internet. It's not disingenuous: it describes a series of institutionalized behaviors that are directly parasitic on the user. Now the reaction is to be angry at GDPR because of the pop-ups, which aren't even GDPR compliant in the majority of cases as directly evidenced by the OP link. This reaction is comically absurd, hence the comparison. This garbage heap is the result of shitty implementation by the websites, and ironically a lack of enforcement of the law.
- robgibbons 6y ago
  First, thank you for explaining your point. But, nobody here is complaining about GDPR. They are complaining about the terrible UX, and wasted time, and attention, which the non-compliant implementations have caused. That is not an absurd reaction, it's perfectly reasonable. That's why your comment comes off as dismissive. If anything, it's more akin to complaining about the shitty, half-rate pest control person your landlord calls to get rid of the rats. They do a bad job, poison your house, waste your time, and the rats never go away.
  - mrweasel 6y ago
    > But, nobody here is complaining about GDPR. Yes they are, everyone here is blaming the GDPR. You're right that the issue isn't the GDPR, it's the tracking industry trying to figure a way around it. The EU learned a lot from the original cookie law, but the industry have not, they still try to continue as normally, until someone is hit with a crippling fine.
  - Bakary 6y ago
    At the time of writing, the parent comment I replied to ended with "Thanks GDPR". To me, there can be no clearer indictment of the law instead of the shitty practices. Reading through the thread has been frustrating. There are many users coming so close to the realization contained in the analogy but stopping just short of it. I understand that it is confirmation bias to some extent: many other users have made no such complaints. But I see it often in other places as well, and even have had those arguments in real life. I am willing to consider those perspectives, but I simply disagree with them. >If anything, it's more akin to complaining about the shitty, half-rate pest control person your landlord calls to get rid of the rats. They do a bad job, poison your house, waste your time, and the rats never go away. I don't want to stretch the analogy further than it can work, but a more apt comparison in my view would be this: a person discovers that every inch of their floorboard and walls are filled with highly intelligent rats. The pest control comes, creates some measures that have a small effect but does not enforce everything at the outset. It's likely they will come back for another round since they are still learning the ropes for such an enormous job. The rats have been there for decades and it is the only pest control service even trying to fix the problem in the entire city. The rats scurry around in a panic, but keep infesting the apartment. In this scenario, would the person try to get the pest control to enforce the measures and get better at it over time, or would they simply carry on as usual and feel comfortable with the infestation?
iso1210 6y ago
The companies that want to track you have turned the web into a "complete garbage heap of an experience" (apparently, sites I visit don't seem to have this problem). That's not the GDPR.

Bakary 6y ago

>It's just a really disingenuous and dismissive comparison. Nobody is complaining about flashlights. I don't make that comparison lightly. I'm not dismissing the issue: it is a serious problem that is widespread over the internet. It's not disingenuous: it describes a series of institutionalized behaviors that are directly parasitic on the user. Now the reaction is to be angry at GDPR because of the pop-ups, which aren't even GDPR compliant in the majority of cases as directly evidenced by the OP link. This reaction is comically absurd, hence the comparison. This garbage heap is the result of shitty implementation by the websites, and ironically a lack of enforcement of the law.

robgibbons 6y ago
First, thank you for explaining your point. But, nobody here is complaining about GDPR. They are complaining about the terrible UX, and wasted time, and attention, which the non-compliant implementations have caused. That is not an absurd reaction, it's perfectly reasonable. That's why your comment comes off as dismissive. If anything, it's more akin to complaining about the shitty, half-rate pest control person your landlord calls to get rid of the rats. They do a bad job, poison your house, waste your time, and the rats never go away.
- mrweasel 6y ago
  > But, nobody here is complaining about GDPR. Yes they are, everyone here is blaming the GDPR. You're right that the issue isn't the GDPR, it's the tracking industry trying to figure a way around it. The EU learned a lot from the original cookie law, but the industry have not, they still try to continue as normally, until someone is hit with a crippling fine.
- Bakary 6y ago
  At the time of writing, the parent comment I replied to ended with "Thanks GDPR". To me, there can be no clearer indictment of the law instead of the shitty practices. Reading through the thread has been frustrating. There are many users coming so close to the realization contained in the analogy but stopping just short of it. I understand that it is confirmation bias to some extent: many other users have made no such complaints. But I see it often in other places as well, and even have had those arguments in real life. I am willing to consider those perspectives, but I simply disagree with them. >If anything, it's more akin to complaining about the shitty, half-rate pest control person your landlord calls to get rid of the rats. They do a bad job, poison your house, waste your time, and the rats never go away. I don't want to stretch the analogy further than it can work, but a more apt comparison in my view would be this: a person discovers that every inch of their floorboard and walls are filled with highly intelligent rats. The pest control comes, creates some measures that have a small effect but does not enforce everything at the outset. It's likely they will come back for another round since they are still learning the ropes for such an enormous job. The rats have been there for decades and it is the only pest control service even trying to fix the problem in the entire city. The rats scurry around in a panic, but keep infesting the apartment. In this scenario, would the person try to get the pest control to enforce the measures and get better at it over time, or would they simply carry on as usual and feel comfortable with the infestation?

iso1210 6y ago

The companies that want to track you have turned the web into a "complete garbage heap of an experience" (apparently, sites I visit don't seem to have this problem). That's not the GDPR.