this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2025

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Privacy

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Europe’s cookie law messed up the internet. Brussels wants to fix it. (www.politico.eu)

submitted 3 months ago by Zerush@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

60 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The European Commission aims to reform the EU's cookie consent rules that have cluttered websites with intrusive banners asking for permission to track user data[^4]. The initiative seeks to streamline data protection while maintaining privacy safeguards through centralized consent mechanisms[^4].

Cookie consent banners emerged from the ePrivacy Directive (Cookie Law) and GDPR requirements, which mandate websites obtain explicit user permission before collecting non-essential data through cookies[^17]. Current rules have led to widespread implementation of pop-up notices that interrupt user experience and often employ confusing interfaces.

The proposed changes reflect growing recognition that the existing approach has "messed up the internet" while failing to provide meaningful privacy protection[^4]. Rather than requiring individual consent on every website, the Commission is exploring solutions like centralized consent management to reduce banner fatigue while preserving user privacy rights.

[^4]: Ground News - Europe's cookie law messed up the internet. Brussels wants to fix it.

[^17]: Transcend - Cookie Consent Banner Best Practices: Optimizing Your Consent Management Experience

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[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 198 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

The law didn't mess up the internet, asshole business owners with their bullshit malicious compliance (and spineless devs enabling them) messed up the internet.

[–] ShortN0te@lemmy.ml 82 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Yep, there even was a standard that would have been sufficient, Do Not Track. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Track

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 67 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Even worse, many data agencies will use the Do Not Track flag as an additional datapoint to add to your fingerprint.

This shit should be mandated, with strict “the company has been burned to the ground and the ashes have been salted” levels of penalties for violating it.

[–] HairyHarry@lemmy.world 22 points 3 months ago

This! A thousand times THIS!

This is also evidence they never wanted to implement user protection.

[–] wizzor@sopuli.xyz 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

For the life of me I do not understand how this was not all it took.

[–] communism@lemmy.ml 35 points 3 months ago (6 children)

It wouldn't be hard to add a clause mandating that websites provide an easy-to-access "reject all" button that actually rejects all cookies.

[–] lemming@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Unless I'm very mistaken rejecting all cookies must not take more clicks than accepting them. Too bad nobody enforces that...

[–] socsa@piefed.social 1 points 3 months ago

The law should have a bounty for reporting violations and it will basically enforce itself.

[–] comrade_twisty@feddit.org 9 points 3 months ago

Too many websites like almost all US local news outlets and businesses like Home Depot just block all EU and Swiss IP addresses, which really sucks for a multitude of reasons.

[–] chgxvjh@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago

Arguably e-privacy and gdpr require a reject all button.

[–] KSPAtlas@sopuli.xyz 7 points 3 months ago

I'm seeing more and more of this "pay to reject" thing and it's really annoying me

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 2 points 3 months ago

I'm pretty sure the law already said that the reject button cannot be more convoluted to access than the accept button, corporate websites just couldn't care less

[–] renormalizer@feddit.org 1 points 3 months ago

But even when they do, I feel that, after rejecting, I get the same banner again the next time I visit the site. I bet that doesn't happen when you accept tracking.

[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yes, because of this i skip it, blocking anyway all the crap and cookies I don't want, as also these cookie advices, only it is annoying because it last some seconds before these got skipped by the filterlist.

[–] jlow@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 3 months ago

This works for a lot of sites:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/consent-o-matic/