I recently read this article by Baldur Bjarnason about Apple continuously misinterpreting the DMA. It’s has a rather cynical opinion of the EU but I liked how it tries to explain the actions Apple has recently taken. If Apple can’t bully the EU into into allowing their bullshit, Meta and big tech companies wont fare any better.
I’m so incredibly grateful that the EU is really trying to fix the internet. Also grateful to organization like the EFF that try to do the same. I recently became a donor as I think their work really is critical.
Can you believe the shit these companies would do if it wasn’t for the EU and their regulation? It’d be a dystopia (well, more than it already is at least).
In addition to donating directly, fellow video games enjoyer can support the EFF by just buying games at humble bundle store and choosing EFF as the supported charity.
As much as I like the concept of GDPR, i think it didn’t fo far enough. EU tried, but they should’ve thought it through a few more times. For example I would’ve loved for the cookie warning to have a mandated “No to everything, get fucked, and never ask about access from this IP again.”-button
Essentially that’s mandated. Companies don’t do it… But that is the law. And they can store a cookie with that info without requiring permission as it is essential to performing that action.
You can complain with your local data protection agency.
Basically the law is that rejecting cookies must be exactly as easy as accepting them, so if there’s an “accept all” button, there also has to be a “reject all” button right next to it, same size, same visibility.
I thought this article was a good, brief discussion on cookie banners. The summary is that the EU didn't mandate cookie banners, just acquiring consent. And they forbid common dark patterns making the "no" option more difficult to submit. It's the tech industry that settled on the terrible banners, and many of them (most?) don't actually conform to the law's requirements.
A great thing about the banners is that it's not immediately obvious to everyone that websites are trying to track their every step online. The banners are annoying, but at least it pushes the tech industry to play with open cards.
Those banners are the perfect example of malicious compliance! The data collecting companies did their best to barely comply but in the most annoying way. Just to point out, that it is the GDPRs/EUs fault your internet browsing experience got so much worse!
I highly recommend at least using the content blocker uBlock Origin!
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