Ask HN: Why can't I opt out of cookies once?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25812980

by alexfromapex • 6 years ago

2 5 6 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Per GDPR, lots of websites now ask about consent for their cookie retention policies. Why isn't there an option to opt out of all of them a single time across all websites?

mtmail• 6 years ago

Companies don't want you to opt-out, they have no incentive to make it easier than the GDPR regulations require. I think the annoying popup boxes in fact want to you give up and just click 'ok' rather than dealing with the fine-print.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Track didn't catch on.

x775• 6 years ago

Disable cookies directly in your browser..? As for the obnoxious popups, if the above does not address those, several extensions will block them for you.

jaharios• 6 years ago

I think you mean something like Do-not-track header [0] , which is not respected at 99% of the web and enabling it makes you even more traceable.

My solution is using Cookie auto delete [1] which deletes cookies after a set time and I don't care about cookies [2] which removes the annoying banners and popups.

[0] https://www.eff.org/issues/do-not-track

[1] https://github.com/Cookie-AutoDelete/Cookie-AutoDelete

[2] https://www.i-dont-care-about-cookies.eu/

jagger27• 6 years ago

Doing so would require your browser to set a cookie to remember your decision.

There is no single framework for opting in or out of cookies. Every website that shows you a "cancel or allow" cookie dialog is just running their own custom JavaScript.

jka• 6 years ago

This may become part of the ePrivacy Regulation that is in discussion within the EU. Quoting from the description[1] of the proposed regulation:

"Simpler rules on cookies: the cookie provision, which has resulted in an overload of consent requests for internet users, will be streamlined. The new rule will be more user-friendly as browser settings will provide for an easy way to accept or refuse tracking cookies and other identifiers. The proposal also clarifies that no consent is needed for non-privacy intrusive cookies improving internet experience (e.g. to remember shopping cart history) or cookies used by a website to count the number of visitors."

There has been lobbying and back-and-forth on this particular topic in the regulation, and I don't know the current status of it.

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/proposal-epriv...

Ask HN: Why can't I opt out of cookies once?

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