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> this can only work if the flag is off by default so only those who actually care set it. As the effort in the article is attempting to establish, this can al

> this can only work if the flag is off by default so only those who actually care set it. As the effort in the article is attempting to establish, this can also work when there is a legal stick against those who don't comply. All we need is companies to stop tracking people by default. A side benefit is that webmasters don't need to ask about Google Analytics if it's not being used.

qwerty456127 5y ago
This is utopian. I want this but don't believe this is possible. Perhaps they might agree to stop tracking a portion of users who opt out but forcing them to stop tracking anybody is unlikely to succeed, and even if it succeeds they will just track everybody secretly. I also am not confident in total elimination of tracking being a good idea from the economical point of view - many small businesses rely on precise targeting today.
- pieno 5y ago
  What a dystopian world we live in when people/companies can just plainly and publicly say that they don’t agree and won’t comply with a binding law with supervision mechanisms and penalties, and still have the general public believe that there’s nothing we can do about it... And mind you: we’re not (just) talking about the top-5 tech companies and 0.01% here. This attitude is shares by almost every other company out there, and I have a feeling (based on anecdata) that the issue is even worse in smaller companies who think they don’t have to comply because they’re small or because they’re a startup or because they just need to “move fast and break things”… and we seem to accept that…
- xg15 5y ago
  > many small businesses rely on precise targeting today. And many businesses relied on CFCs as coolants before they got forbidden. they found a solution. Regulation can also be a source of innovation if it forces businesses to think of alternative, less harmful ways to solve a problem.

qwerty456127 5y ago

This is utopian. I want this but don't believe this is possible. Perhaps they might agree to stop tracking a portion of users who opt out but forcing them to stop tracking anybody is unlikely to succeed, and even if it succeeds they will just track everybody secretly. I also am not confident in total elimination of tracking being a good idea from the economical point of view - many small businesses rely on precise targeting today.

pieno 5y ago
What a dystopian world we live in when people/companies can just plainly and publicly say that they don’t agree and won’t comply with a binding law with supervision mechanisms and penalties, and still have the general public believe that there’s nothing we can do about it... And mind you: we’re not (just) talking about the top-5 tech companies and 0.01% here. This attitude is shares by almost every other company out there, and I have a feeling (based on anecdata) that the issue is even worse in smaller companies who think they don’t have to comply because they’re small or because they’re a startup or because they just need to “move fast and break things”… and we seem to accept that…
xg15 5y ago
> many small businesses rely on precise targeting today. And many businesses relied on CFCs as coolants before they got forbidden. they found a solution. Regulation can also be a source of innovation if it forces businesses to think of alternative, less harmful ways to solve a problem.