←back to thread

Internet's biggest annoyance: Cookie laws should target browsers, not websites

(nednex.com)
582 points SweetSoftPillow | 3 comments | 22 Oct 25 12:12 UTC | HN request time: 0.594s | source
Show context
tbrownaw ◴[22 Oct 25 12:50 UTC] No.45668288[source]▶
> Your browser becomes your personal privacy enforcer, and the law would require it to act on your behalf. Based on your one-time choice, it would be responsible for allowing or declining cookies from every site you visit. If a website tries to use a cookie with an unclear or undeclared purpose?

Browsers are something the end-user installs. Inserting the government into that doesn't make sense.

This sounds like the idea is for the site to add extra metadata that's not there now, about what each cookie does. Which would still involve mandating site owners to do things.

.

Also, both private mode and https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account... are a thing already, without government meddling.

replies(2): >>45668335 #>>45668366 #
asplake ◴[22 Oct 25 12:54 UTC] No.45668335[source]▶
Except that the provider of the most popular browser is also an advertising agency. A conflict there, surely?
replies(1): >>45668822 #
1. tbrownaw ◴[22 Oct 25 13:27 UTC] No.45668822[source]▶
So that would mean that most users must not actually care that much, then?
replies(2): >>45669029 #>>45671560 #
2. pessimizer ◴[22 Oct 25 13:42 UTC] No.45669029[source]▶
The provider of the "alternative" browser is also completely supported by the same advertising company, and since this arrangement has begun has shown itself completely uninterested in solutions like this. If anything, it tries to make control over cookies, localstorage, or javascript harder, and to demonize people who would dare to care about such a thing.
3. wackget ◴[22 Oct 25 16:27 UTC] No.45671560[source]▶
Let's be honest: most users don't know what they don't know. Even tech-literate people have no real idea of the enormity and scale of tracking which goes on across the web. And the tech giants love it that way.