Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New EU Net Rules Set To Make Cookies Crumble

Posted by samzenpus on from the covering-your-tracks dept.

NickstaDB writes "From the BBC article: 'From 25 May, European laws dictate that "explicit consent" must be gathered from web users who are being tracked via text files called "cookies." These files are widely used to help users navigate faster around sites they visit regularly. Businesses are being urged to sort out how they get consent so they can keep on using cookies.'"

7 of 290 comments (clear)

  1. They will just bury it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They will just bury such "consent" in the EULA, privacy policy, terms and conditions, legal notices, and other such crud that no one reads.

    1. Re:They will just bury it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Data protection legislation in the EU requires that explicit consent is given. That means clear, unambiguous, and upfront consent. You can't hide it in a blizzard of tick boxes or EULAs. Defaulting options to give consent won't work either.

      Big business might try tor rely on a "permissive environment" of weak national regulators but the EU commission takes these things seriously. After stunts like data loss and Phorm they're wise to the tricks. Any wiseguy is just going to get their ass handed to them.

    2. Re:They will just bury it by andrea.sartori · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, sure, because a Yes/No guarantees the user has a) read the message, b) understood what this cookie stuff was, c) consciously clicked the "right" button.
      Real world situation: "It asked me something." "What did ask what?" "Dunno, I just clicked OK."
      Come on. 80% of the malware in the world is installed exactly after "gathering explicit consent from Web users".

      --
      Mostly harmless.
  2. Re:Thanks EU by plover · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Great - what the internet needs is more regulation.

    Thanks EU.

    I think that's exactly what America needs: more EU regulation. We'll just host their sites over here, because we don't have to comply with their stupid laws.

    --
    John
  3. Re:Clue stick by Malc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I couldn't give a rat's arse how much it costs sites to comply. I'm glad somebody with sufficient authority is looking out for my privacy, because it's hard enough to do it by myself. Cookies have been a fundamental feature of the web for a long time as a way to make the web a better experience for users, but I certainly didn't ask advertisers et al to abuse this functionality for things that aren't in my interest.

  4. Re:Thanks EU by DarwinSurvivor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    HAHAHA. Says the guy who's country created the patriot act! American VPS companies have been losing lots of money because people don't want to put their data on a server in a country where the government can just go "This server is running on the same hardware as someone who MAY have sent a secret message to someone in IRAQ with a picture of a child, thus we are confiscating everything!"

  5. Re:EU = make things harder by lordholm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google requiring log-in = people start using bing (have they renamed it again yet?) / yahoo / altavista.
    Really... this is what would happen.

    I have seen plenty of people who, when encountering a log-in / register window, they just close the web-page and do something else. Come, to think of it, all sites requiring log-ins, would be a huge boost for productivity.

    --
    "Civis Europaeus sum!"