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A subtlety that may be obscured by the name: the software developer is suggesting that people use technological self-help (proactively blocking and deleting co

by schoen 6y ago

A subtlety that may be obscured by the name: the software developer is suggesting that people use technological self-help (proactively blocking and deleting cookies) instead of spending a lot of their time and energy repeatedly performing the same cookie consent actions. It's not so much "I don't care at all" as "I want to deal with cookies by a different method than being notified of them over and over again".

ALittleLight 6y ago
I didn't get that from this webpage. It seems like his extension just accepts all cookie requests and doesn't delete them.
- jhugo 6y ago
  Did you read the first paragraph of the page by any chance? “If you surf anonymously or if you delete cookies automatically every time you close the browser, websites will ask for that permission again and again, and it will soon become very irritating to click the same I agree buttons every day.” The extension doesn't claim to delete cookies (and GP doesn't suggest that it does), but it's clearly targeted at people that are using technological means to deal with the problem rather than clicking "pretty please don't track me" and hoping for the best.
  - croes 6y ago
    Why surf anonymously or delete the cookies after all if you click "I agree" every time?
    - throwaway53453 6y ago
      Because those cookies are cleared when the tab is closed and most of the major ad networks (Google, Amazon) forget who you are when that happens. Why worry about it?
      - sixothree 6y ago
        Lol. Do they really.
        Nextgrid 6y ago
        This is wrongly downvoted despite being absolutely right. There's a big misunderstanding behind these "cookie" consent prompts. They are actually about overall data processing consent regardless of technical means - this includes cookies but also things like browser fingerprinting, IP addresses, etc which will persist despite clearing cookies. Using an extension that automatically grants consent and merely deletes cookies every time would give you a false sense of security if the automatically granted consent allows them to use your browser's fingerprint or IP address to track you anyway.
        3np 6y ago
        At least if you’re in EU, active consent is required to comply with the GDPR. This means that if you do what this extension does (filter out the UI elements and ignore dialogs), it’s illegal for a website to save PII about you and your visit. Many websites and data processors violate this, but since that’s the case for those sites the only winning move is not to play.
        dkersten 6y ago
        Many websites are not compliant though, so while its illegal, they're still doing it. For example, GDPR requires opt-in, many websites have opt-out. Its illegal, but if its not being enforced, then...
        Nextgrid 6y ago
        It could be argued that if the consent prompt can’t be dismissed without providing an answer (whether accept or decline) and you use technical means to circumvent that then it’s fair for the system to track you anyway as it’s undefined behavior?
        throwaway53453 6y ago
- karaterobot 6y ago
  The reality is that very few websites actually let you choose whether to accept tracking cookies or not. For the most part, they set the cookies immediately, even before the disclosure banner appears. Most of them don't even include the option to opt out. It doesn't matter that this is against both the spirit and the letter of the GDPR. Those banners are just an annoying bit of compliance theater. Given that I'm getting the cookies whether I want them or not, and deleting them whenever my browser closes, if this extension keeps the banners off my screen it's a huge net positive from my perspective.

by schoen 6y ago

ALittleLight 6y ago

I didn't get that from this webpage. It seems like his extension just accepts all cookie requests and doesn't delete them.

jhugo 6y ago
Did you read the first paragraph of the page by any chance? “If you surf anonymously or if you delete cookies automatically every time you close the browser, websites will ask for that permission again and again, and it will soon become very irritating to click the same I agree buttons every day.” The extension doesn't claim to delete cookies (and GP doesn't suggest that it does), but it's clearly targeted at people that are using technological means to deal with the problem rather than clicking "pretty please don't track me" and hoping for the best.
- croes 6y ago
  Why surf anonymously or delete the cookies after all if you click "I agree" every time?
  - throwaway53453 6y ago
    Because those cookies are cleared when the tab is closed and most of the major ad networks (Google, Amazon) forget who you are when that happens. Why worry about it?
    - sixothree 6y ago
      Lol. Do they really.
      - Nextgrid 6y ago
        This is wrongly downvoted despite being absolutely right. There's a big misunderstanding behind these "cookie" consent prompts. They are actually about overall data processing consent regardless of technical means - this includes cookies but also things like browser fingerprinting, IP addresses, etc which will persist despite clearing cookies. Using an extension that automatically grants consent and merely deletes cookies every time would give you a false sense of security if the automatically granted consent allows them to use your browser's fingerprint or IP address to track you anyway.
        3np 6y ago
        At least if you’re in EU, active consent is required to comply with the GDPR. This means that if you do what this extension does (filter out the UI elements and ignore dialogs), it’s illegal for a website to save PII about you and your visit. Many websites and data processors violate this, but since that’s the case for those sites the only winning move is not to play.
        dkersten 6y ago
        Many websites are not compliant though, so while its illegal, they're still doing it. For example, GDPR requires opt-in, many websites have opt-out. Its illegal, but if its not being enforced, then...
        Nextgrid 6y ago
        It could be argued that if the consent prompt can’t be dismissed without providing an answer (whether accept or decline) and you use technical means to circumvent that then it’s fair for the system to track you anyway as it’s undefined behavior?
      - throwaway53453 6y ago
karaterobot 6y ago
The reality is that very few websites actually let you choose whether to accept tracking cookies or not. For the most part, they set the cookies immediately, even before the disclosure banner appears. Most of them don't even include the option to opt out. It doesn't matter that this is against both the spirit and the letter of the GDPR. Those banners are just an annoying bit of compliance theater. Given that I'm getting the cookies whether I want them or not, and deleting them whenever my browser closes, if this extension keeps the banners off my screen it's a huge net positive from my perspective.