CS Chris Smith
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The End of the EU Cookie Law

by Chris Smith
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I don't want to mislead anyone - I don't think the law itself is going anywhere but Britain leaving the EU means that the day when I don't have to worry about it is getting closer.

There. An actual upside to Brexit.

I've found the whole cookie law to be ridiculous from day one. The US hasn't felt the need for it. In fact, nowhere else in the world has felt the need for it.

The basic idea is that a website needs a user's consent before placing a file (a cookie) on his/her device. That seems fair enough but forcing the publisher to add an annoying message that will always, 100% of the time, be dismissed without any thought is just wasting everybody's time.

How can this consent even constitute any kind of legally binding contract when the website visitor is anonymous? And what if he/she is coming from outside the EU?

Why can't it be handled by the browser, in a similar way to a website seeking permission to access the user's location? I'll tell you why. It's because the browser vendors don't consider it an issue. Because it's not an issue.

I'm looking forward to the day when I can visit a site without having to dismiss a meaningless message, tick a box or, on the other side of the fence have to add this nonsense and annoy others.