Premise
The average user, surfing the web, now superficially dismisses preliminary information informed consent banners, compulsively pressing the Accept button without stopping to understand the implications of their choice. This automatic behavior reveals a growing disregard for the protection of personal data, despite the importance of the consent mechanisms introduced by the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR.
Informed consent is a big step forward, it is based on the fundamental concept that users must be fully aware of how their personal data is collected and used. Consent must be free, specific, informed and unambiguous. This means that users must be able to clearly understand what information is being collected and for what purposes.
As regards cookie banners, the law requires transparent communication. The banner must explain in a clear and comprehensible way the types of cookies used, distinguishing between technical cookies, necessary for the functioning of the site, and profiling or marketing cookies, which require explicit consent.
Despite significant sanctions, many websites adopt unfair practices: first of all, they hinder the revocation of previously given consent and, even more seriously, they implement blocking systems that prevent access to content, using the so-called cookie walls and cookie paywalls. These coercive mechanisms represent a clear violation of the principles of transparency and free choice established by the GDPR.
The Unbearable Arrogance of Cookies
Imagine being in front of a digital gate: on one side the content that interests you, on the other a request that puts you in a tight spot. Here are the cookie wall and cookie paywall, the new guardians of the web that have transformed online navigation into a sort of forced negotiation.
Cookie walls are like digital bouncers that tell you: Accept everything or you don’t enter. No options, no nuances. Want to read that article? You have to swallow all the cookies, including those that track your every move online. It’s a bit like if you had to sign a release to enter a store that strips you of all privacy.
Paywall cookies are even worse: not only do they want your data, they also demand money. Imagine them as waiters who tell you: Do you want the menu? First pay the cover charge and sign here. Online newspapers, streaming services, specialized sites: they have all adopted this strategy that it knows a lot of digital blackmail.
The paradox? All this happens while the GDPR should protect us, but in practice it seems more like a recommendation than a law. Users, tired and in a hurry, click Accept like automatons, effectively giving up their right to choose.
It is the new frontier of online consent: where freedom is negotiated with clicks. The watchword is to collect as much data as possible from the unfortunate visitor of the website.
Are they legitimate?
Article 4, paragraph 11, of the GDPR consent of the data subject: any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the interested party with which the same expresses his consent, through a declaration or unequivocal positive action, that the personal data concerning him are processed.
According to this definition, cookies cannot be considered valid consent, as they do not offer users a free choice regarding their use. Therefore, cookies are not compliant with the provisions of the GDPR.
In May 2020, the European Data Protection Board EDPB updated its guidelines on consent under the EU General Data Protection Regulation GDPR, click here to read. .
The EDPB guidelines clarify that consent given through cookie walls is not freely given and therefore it does not constitute valid consent.
The European regulators Spanish and [Irish](https://www.cookielawinfo.com/c
ookie-consent-guidelines-ireland-greece-and-finland/) have noted that cookie walls do not constitute valid consent because the user is not presented with a real choice.
Continued violations
Let’s get back to the topic: there are specialized companies that can collect data even if we have expressed our refusal to allow cookies to be traced. You can find more information on this topic in the articles listed below:
- Iubenda retrieves Google Ads conversion data for approximately 65% of clicks from users who refuse consent. Read the article: Let’s get into the subject of Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), click here to read.
- How Meta and Yandex play dirty by bypassing Android protections to connect anonymous web browsing to app users. Read the article: Anonymous Browsing Hacked click here to read.
- Read the article: War on Trackers let’s defend ourselves from tracers click here to read.
Countermeasures
Example of paywall cookies note the company that takes care of informed consent management!
It is always recommended to use Linux as the operating system for Android phones with Graphene as the operating system. On the devices use Firefox or a derivative FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) with the appropriate extensions.
Don’t get crazed by installing the whole world of extensions because they can lower the level of privacy you get!
Firefox Multi-Account Containers
Firefox Extension click here to read. , available on PC and mobile.
Powered by EFF Electronic Frontier Foundation a guarantee! Privacy Badger automatically blocks hidden trackers by sending the Global Privacy Control signal to opt out of data sharing and selling and the Do Not Track signal to tell companies not to track. If trackers ignore these signals, Privacy Badger will learn to block them.
It is important to aggressively manage sites that use blocking cookies, by placing all checkboxes in the red zone (block).
uBlock Origin
Firefox Extension click here to read. , available on PC and mobile.
uBlock is an ad-blocker but, if you explore all its features, you will be able to access many interesting functions such as the select element mode, which allows you to disable specific elements on the page you are viewing. Remember that Google blocks this extension, also available on Chrome, but for 100% functionality it is advisable to always use Firefox.
LocalCDN
Firefox Extension click here to read. , available on PC and mobile.
LocalCDN is a web browser extension that emulates content delivery networks to improve your online privacy. It intercepts traffic, finds locally supported resources and injects them into the environment. All this happens automatically, so no prior configuration is required. If you have any doubts before installing the extension, test it click here to read.
Conclusion
You have all the tools you need to increase the privacy of your browsing and disrupt annoying cookies. The suggested extensions are real Swiss army knives: you need to refine and test them to get the maximum desired result.