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GDPR literally prohibits the sale of user data and tracking without user consent (because yes, you want to give people the possibility to opt in for a variety of reasons).

GDPR has literally nothing to do with cookie popups. That was, and is, adtech

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prohibits [...] without user consent

that's what causes the popups.

it should prohibit it outright, consent or not.

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But the only reason the popups are needed is the adtech tracking cookies. You don't need a popup for cookies that are related to essential site functionality.
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yes, so if ad tracking is forbidden outright then asking for permission to do it is invalid too.
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We certainly do need another law to ban the adtech industry..... Though no doubt that would prompt a _shitstorm_ from Google, Elon and chums.
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I see only positives there.
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I can live with the tears of Google and Elon, frankly.

The adtech industry has, time and again, proven they cannot self-regulate to any decent capacity. At this point, the only reasonable course of action is to shackle them down with such heavy legislative burdens they're rendered de facto extinct.

I will not mourn their loss.

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There are absolutely valid reasons for users to opt-in to tracking/data collection.

EU is first and foremost a capitalist economy which nevertheless tries to protect people from abuse. Who are they to forbid someone to collect data, and to someone to provide this data? Even things like quality surveys are collecting personal data.

However, adtech and tracking (also capitalists, (un)ironically) ruined everything for it for everyone.

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I think they are saying GDPR did not ban websites from noisily asking for consent and trying to trick you into giving consent.
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Well they did but that is not policed.

For example, giving consent should be the same difficulty as denying it. So one click consent means there must be also one click non-consent. But this is policed very poorly.

I think they should just ban adtech altogether, at least any form of targeted advertising, individual pricing (which is already illegal in many EU countries) and ideally also deep market research.

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My job was building cookie walls in response to GDPR. It might not have been the “intent” but it certainly was the consequence of that law.
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> Missed opportunity by the EU when they wrote GDPR.

Not really.

There are legitimate reasons why I might wish to be tracked or give my personal data to a company. As long as I'm asked to give clear, opt-in informed consent, this is perfectly fine. This is the very essence of the GDPR!

Instead, direct your ire to the scummy adtech industry who are constantly asking to invade my privacy and smell my knickers trying to work out what I ate for lunch. Another law to ban the adtech industry would be welcome from me, though would meet fierce resistance from the likes of Google.

The GDPR is well written.

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> There are legitimate reasons why I might wish to be tracked or give my personal data to a company. As long as I'm asked to give clear, opt-in informed consent, this is perfectly fine. This is the very essence of the GDPR!

In these cases they don't even need to ask for your permission.

> Instead, direct your ire to the scummy adtech industry who are constantly asking to invade my privacy and smell my knickers trying to work out what I ate for lunch. Another law to ban the adtech industry would be welcome from me, though would meet fierce resistance from the likes of Google.

No, the EU should have done more to prevent this. They didn't want to kill a billions-of-euros industry. But they should have.

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