> Google itself (which has all the lawyers and engineers it needs) has resorted to the same f-ing ugly cookie popup

Because Google is in the business of dark patterns and wholesale data collection. They couldn't care less about user privacy.

Besides, their entire system is built on the premise of wholesale data collection. Their own engineers admit that they don't know how and where the data is collected and de-google their phones. [1]

> The problem is the law. It's a crappy law.

As I'm saying, you are a part of the problem.

[1] https://twitter.com/jason_kint/status/1398353211220807682

Yeah, sure, everybody else is part of the problem. Everybody except those who created the problem in the first place.

Are they gonna sue every single website who had to put up a cookie popup just because they run analytics?

> Everybody except those who created the problem in the first place.

For over a decade there have been laws in each country protecting people's private data. Companies kept on ignoring those laws. The countries came together and created a single law for the entirety of the EU.

The essence of the law:

- if you need some data for the functionality of your service, you can collect it

- if you don't need some data for the functionality of your service, you can't collect it unless you explicitly ask the person. And "opt out" has to be the default option, and cannot stop the person from using the service

How is that a problem?

Those popups? Yes, they are annoying, but they also show how every single website sells the data they don't need to hundreds of companies without your consent. And they keep trying to trick you into providing that data. Now this is a problem.

However, you think that it's all fine, everyone should just hoover up all the data they can possibly get their hands on.

> Are they gonna sue every single website who had to put up a cookie popup just because they run analytics?

Yes, theoretically they have the authority to do that. However, no, they are not going to do that. And no, that doesn't mean that the law is bad.

Please open an incognito browser window and go to the "Official website of the European Union": https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en

Look at the bottom of the page. It's a cookie banner. It was their law. They had 6 years to implement it on their own website. This is the result. The law is broken.

This is pretty much how it's supposed to work under GDPR. Offering a clear choice without bias. GDPR isn't about banning cookies. It's about giving the user control of their data.

Well then - cookie popups that must be clicked every time you visit a website until you accept them, must be ok with you, since "this is how it's supposed to work under GDPR".

Sorry, but I don't agree. I consider them a scourge on today's Internet. And I find them a horribly steep price for the "privacy" (really just a lousy IP address obfuscation) you gain in their stead.

You don't have to click it every time. Just once.

The choice can be perfectly well saved in a cookie because it's a cookie necessary for site operations. They don't even need approval. Only unnecessary ones do.

So you can save the user's "No cookies" preference in a cookie? Right.

Yes, right. As in, absolutely nothing wrong with that. What's so hard to understand about this?