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The Current System of Online Advertising has Been Ruled Illegal by The Belgian Court of Appeal. Advertising itself is Still Allowed, but not in a Way That Secretly Tracks Everyone’s Behavior. (www.bitsoffreedom.nl)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

94 comments fedilink hide all child comments

From time to time, important news gets overshadowed by other headlines, even though it could have a profound impact on our (online) world. To most of us, few things are more bothersome than the dreaded cookie banners. On countless websites, you’re confronted with a pesky pop-up urging you to agree to something. You end up consenting without really knowing what it is. If you try to figure out what’s going on, you quickly get lost among the often hundreds of “partners” who want access to your personal data. Even if you do give your consent, it’s questionable whether you truly understand what you’re agreeing to.

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[–] lmmarsano 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

To most of us, few things are more bothersome than the dreaded cookie banners. On countless websites, you’re confronted with a pesky pop-up urging you to agree to something.

Thanks to dumbass EU laws fussing over nonproblems like (check notes) targeted advertising. Really? I voluntarily give out information to an ad-supported service I don't pay for, they turn around & use this to try to show me more relevant ads, and I'm supposed to pretend the internet was ever private & shit my pants over this? While I can understand safeguards from identity theft, cookies aren't that, I don't understand how this concern ever blew up.

Before those laws, those cookie banners didn't exist & I was happy not clicking them. I was under no illusion that online privacy exists with free services running on ad revenue that can track online activity and try to harvest voluntary information that's mostly worthless to me. Free shit in exchange for mostly worthless information & ads I ignore seems like an obvious bargain, but some hypochondriacs had to stir everyone into a frenzy to bitch & moan about it. Do they think the world just runs on magic?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Someone from a developing nation told me that hating advertising is absolutely a luxury of only wealthy nations. Without ad supported formats LATAM, EMEA, and APAC would have far less access to entertainment and information. It made me reexamine how much of my thoughts on this are privileged.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

As if there's no other way.
This sounds like a far-fetched excuse, advertising is ugly, obnoxious and poisonous.
It has zero qualities.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

At the moment there's no other way that makes sense for the companies looking at these regions. The reality is that the infrastructure to deliver digital goods is that it costs the same no matter where you're delivering those goods to. So if people in that region have such a weak currency, they're paying you one 100 th of what say France is paying for something then offering the service to them maybe an unprofitable venture overall. That said, I'm not a businessman because I fucking hate this kind of shit, but the guy's comment really made me stop and observe my own bias.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You already get the benefit of lower prices for digital products that have the same production cost regarless of where it is sold. I understand that your wages are lower, but I can not like paying a lot more for the same services/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Generally, you wouldn't see things like Netflix and HBO enter Latin America without ad supported versions.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (8 children)

I'm not a fan of being tracked so don't get me wrong, but without the money earned with advertising the Internet will look very different and not only in a good way.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Advertising predates tracking by millennia. We can have online advertising without tracking, and certainly without this orgy of sharing data between 4353 partners. But market alone won't get us there, because whoever offers advertising without tracking and selling data will be at a huge disadvantage compared to the crooks who sell. Only regulatory action can help. So this small step should be celebrated.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Phew!

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