Are cookies killing the Internet?

[tight fart]

They drive me mad, every site I seem to go on wants me to except their cookies to continue.
Swipe right on my phone and I get news that thanks to big brother spying on me is supposed to be relevant to me.
But whatever I go on I have to except to continue.
Is it only me it drives mad?

[jpringle819]

Cookies have always been there but there has been a new EU directive that means websites need to let users know that they are using cookies. https://www.cookielaw.org/the-cookie-law/

[Integroo]

jpringle819 said:

Cookies have always been there but there has been a new EU directive that means websites need to let users know that they are using cookies. https://www.cookielaw.org/the-cookie-law/

Yup and it is bloody stupid as we all click yes and we all know all websites use cookies. Very painful.

[annodomini2]

Integroo said:

jpringle819 said:

Cookies have always been there but there has been a new EU directive that means websites need to let users know that they are using cookies. https://www.cookielaw.org/the-cookie-law/

Yup and it is bloody stupid as we all click yes and we all know all websites use cookies. Very painful.

You might, I don't

[wiggy001]

For the 99% of people this law was meant to "protect" it has probably had the opposite effect. Most people will simply agree to the warning because they want to get to the site, not think about something they don't really care about.

The 1% of people that understand what cookies are technically and may not wish to accept them will have other methods in place that means they don't need the warning.

So yes, it is completely pointless. And frustrating when you open a webpage and half the content is hidden behind the cookie warning.

[Penelope Stopit]

Use the "I don't care about cookies add-on" https://www.guidingtech.com/get-rid-cookie-warning...

[wombleh]

I find it breaks a lot of mobile sites, things like the "close/accept" button is unclickable or hidden by something else or their popup pans with the page and blocks half the content.

Cookies aren't killing the internet but legislation is having a pretty good go at it.

[sgtBerbatov]

annodomini2 said:

Integroo said:

jpringle819 said:

Cookies have always been there but there has been a new EU directive that means websites need to let users know that they are using cookies. https://www.cookielaw.org/the-cookie-law/

Yup and it is bloody stupid as we all click yes and we all know all websites use cookies. Very painful.

You might, I don't

Seconded.

If you understood how invasive those cookies can be you wouldn't accept them.

[andygo]

sgtBerbatov said:

Seconded.

If you understood how invasive those cookies can be you wouldn't accept them.

But then you don't get to see the content, which although generally no big loss, can, on occasion, be a PITA

[Johnnytheboy]

Local news sites seem to be the worst.

[CoolHands]

Reject all. And if the site makes it too difficult I just close it, fk em

[dundarach]

CoolHands said:

Reject all. And if the site makes it too difficult I just close it, fk em

exactly the same

[hyphen]

tight fart said:

They drive me mad, every site I seem to go on wants me to except their cookies to continue.
Swipe right on my phone and I get news that thanks to big brother spying on me is supposed to be relevant to me.
But whatever I go on I have to except to continue.
Is it only me it drives mad?

Install uMatrix

Firefox (desktop & android) https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/uma...
Chrome (desktop): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/umatrix/...

[anonymous-user]

annodomini2 said:

You might, I don't

This is a tech section of a forum. People on here are not the norm. The VAST majority of the world click accept.

I run "I don't care about cookies". I threw my foil hat in the bin.

I totally agree with the OP, particularly on phones, where the pop up sometimes can't be moved or closed. Then you get another one offering some deal, then another pop up asking for site feedback. It really is a mess. I just want to read a site, uninterrupted.

[Lemming Train]

hyphen said:

Install uMatrix

Firefox (desktop & android) https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/uma...
Chrome (desktop): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/umatrix/...

Intrigued by your post I've just spend some time reading about this and also the user reviews. It appears to be a belt & braces approach to the internet, ie. block everything by default and leave it up to the user to unblock the bits they want to see. This is fine for the IT geeks who will be literally coming in their pants at the huge configurability that they can waste 18 hours per day on setting up exactly how they like, but as the reviews illustrate, it's not user friendly for the average person as every website essentially needs unblocking in the config panel before you can read it. The vast majority of internet users don't care for any of that; they just want their webistes to load without their screen filled with ads, cookie warnings, autoplaying media content and other such annoying crap. Generally speaking, Adblock, uBlock and I-dont-care-about-cookies extensions fix all of those issues out of the box without needing to mess around with the config.

[Driver101]

Websites are making it harder to refuse cookies. It's tough to reject them and some offer individual links to opt out.

The ITV hub was another I noticed earlier that was particularly unfriendly.

[Taita]

Does Brave allow for some cookies but not others?

Eg on mobile, even if you click accept, they are binned or deleted once the tab is closed?

[Engelberger]

sgtBerbatov said:

Seconded.

If you understood how invasive those cookies can be you wouldn't accept them.

+1

[hyphen]

Lemming Train said:

hyphen said:

Install uMatrix

Firefox (desktop & android) https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/uma...
Chrome (desktop): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/umatrix/...

Intrigued by your post I've just spend some time reading about this and also the user reviews. It appears to be a belt & braces approach to the internet, ie. block everything by default and leave it up to the user to unblock the bits they want to see. This is fine for the IT geeks who will be literally coming in their pants at the huge configurability that they can waste 18 hours per day on setting up exactly how they like, but as the reviews illustrate, it's not user friendly for the average person as every website essentially needs unblocking in the config panel before you can read it. The vast majority of internet users don't care for any of that; they just want their webistes to load without their screen filled with ads, cookie warnings, autoplaying media content and other such annoying crap. Generally speaking, Adblock, uBlock and I-dont-care-about-cookies extensions fix all of those issues out of the box without needing to mess around with the config.

Yes, it requires more clicks and rules to be set up.

It is not so much if you are an IT geek or not, it's how important your privacy is to you, as people will always be motivated to learn a skill they want that delivers the benefits that they need. Plenty of non IT geeks have taken the time to learn Photoshop for example.

Also if not aware, the same guy has created "UBlock Origin" which is the best adblocker, (not to be confused with ublock, which another money making adblocking company has setup to fool users into downloading...).

[anonymous-user]

Engelberger said:

sgtBerbatov said:

Seconded.

If you understood how invasive those cookies can be you wouldn't accept them.

+1

Someone explain how invasive then

As far as I'm aware, the gather data on all my browsing and shopping habits to then target advertising at me. I'm cool with that . It's annoying seeing ads for a drill for a week after buying one, but it's nto the end of the world.