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Aren't you failing to account for the following? In theory, website owners could do as GitHub did and remove inessential cookies and get rid of annoying banner

Aren't you failing to account for the following? In theory, website owners could do as GitHub did and remove inessential cookies and get rid of annoying banners: https://github.blog/2020-12-17-no-cookie-for-you/ https://github.blog/2020-12-17-no-cookie-for-you/ But in practice, website owners are worried about breaking laws and aren't experts and just follow what they see everyone else doing, and so put up banners. So in practice, the regulations are indeed the ultimate cause of annoying banners, even if in theory those are avoidable in some cases. The people who introduced the regulations were able to look at the ecosystem of website owners and predict that the consequences of the regulations would be the vandalism of the internet by banners that we've seen over the last few years.

rcxdude 4y ago
Yes, there's a cargo cult mentality (encouraged by the big players who would like everyone to believe they are just doing the same as the average wordpress blog), but one way of counteracting that is to educate website owners like the above posts aim to. It's important to realise this isn't just a consequence of the laws being passed but poor understanding of them, which is in part deliberately propagated by those who object to the law.
disruptiveink 4y ago
I would argue that's the entire point of the OP. It's not the EU that's causing the fear of breaking laws. It's the ad tech industry that is instilling that fear by fostering the "you need a cookie banner on your site now" FUD. If Joe Schmoe thinks he needs a cookie banner for doing nothing and puts one up, then from a user's perspective, all sites are equally bad. Compare with "Ask App Not to Track" in iOS, which is enforced by the OS and actually means something. The tracking industry hates that one because it shows them for what they are (not all apps need to throw up that screen) and they don't get to blame the EU for it.
- ymolodtsov 4y ago
  It's literally the EU that created a worthless regulation that hasn't meaningfully helped anyone. I wish more browsers would just include extensions that automatically accept and hide these warnings. It's stupid we have to do this but this is the world we live in.
friendzis 4y ago
> But in practice, website owners are worried about breaking laws That is weird argument. If one genuinely cannot bother to read the law or does not feel capable of fully comprehending the law why don't they simply consult a lawyer? Hiring professional accountants is somehow standard practice.
- ericb 4y ago
  > why don't they simply consult a lawyer? Sure. Are you offering to pay?
  - friendzis 4y ago
    Do coupons for your hosting provider count as payment?
- scarface74 4y ago
  Yes because reading and interpreting an 11 chapter 99 section law is really simple… So now every website owner should have to consult a lawyer who his technical enough to understand the intricacies of the law?
  - olivierduval 4y ago
    Mmmmm... There's a lot of tutorials about the general guidelines of GDPR on internet. Then: - either it's a simple website for fun... and then, why is tracking users so vital? - or it's a real business, with real money... and then you should have a lawyer anyway for GDPR and others
    - scarface74 4y ago
      So I’m going to trust a random website with a general overview? And the alternative is to have to pay lawyers every time I want to start a business on the web? And people wonder why the tech scene in the EU is so far behind…
      - 4y ago

rcxdude 4y ago

Yes, there's a cargo cult mentality (encouraged by the big players who would like everyone to believe they are just doing the same as the average wordpress blog), but one way of counteracting that is to educate website owners like the above posts aim to. It's important to realise this isn't just a consequence of the laws being passed but poor understanding of them, which is in part deliberately propagated by those who object to the law.

disruptiveink 4y ago

I would argue that's the entire point of the OP. It's not the EU that's causing the fear of breaking laws. It's the ad tech industry that is instilling that fear by fostering the "you need a cookie banner on your site now" FUD. If Joe Schmoe thinks he needs a cookie banner for doing nothing and puts one up, then from a user's perspective, all sites are equally bad. Compare with "Ask App Not to Track" in iOS, which is enforced by the OS and actually means something. The tracking industry hates that one because it shows them for what they are (not all apps need to throw up that screen) and they don't get to blame the EU for it.

ymolodtsov 4y ago
It's literally the EU that created a worthless regulation that hasn't meaningfully helped anyone. I wish more browsers would just include extensions that automatically accept and hide these warnings. It's stupid we have to do this but this is the world we live in.

friendzis 4y ago

> But in practice, website owners are worried about breaking laws That is weird argument. If one genuinely cannot bother to read the law or does not feel capable of fully comprehending the law why don't they simply consult a lawyer? Hiring professional accountants is somehow standard practice.

ericb 4y ago
> why don't they simply consult a lawyer? Sure. Are you offering to pay?
- friendzis 4y ago
  Do coupons for your hosting provider count as payment?
scarface74 4y ago
Yes because reading and interpreting an 11 chapter 99 section law is really simple… So now every website owner should have to consult a lawyer who his technical enough to understand the intricacies of the law?
- olivierduval 4y ago
  Mmmmm... There's a lot of tutorials about the general guidelines of GDPR on internet. Then: - either it's a simple website for fun... and then, why is tracking users so vital? - or it's a real business, with real money... and then you should have a lawyer anyway for GDPR and others
  - scarface74 4y ago
    So I’m going to trust a random website with a general overview? And the alternative is to have to pay lawyers every time I want to start a business on the web? And people wonder why the tech scene in the EU is so far behind…
    - 4y ago