New net rules set to make cookies crumble

[BobHelm]

From 25 May, European laws dictate that "explicit consent" must be gathered from web users who are being tracked via text files called "cookies".

However, the directive is likely to have an impact on the more general use of cookies that remember login details and enable people to speed up their use of sites they visit regularly.

It could mean that after 25 May, users see many more pop-up windows and dialogue boxes asking them to let sites gather data.

The exact steps that businesses have to go through to comply with the law and gain consent from customers and users are being drawn up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

A spokesman for the DCMS said that work on the regulations was "ongoing" but that the technique solutions would not be complete by 25 May.

In a statement, Ed Vaizey, minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries, said he recognised that the delay would "cause uncertainty for businesses and consumers".
Cookies list Cookies are used by websites to save user preferences between visits.

"Therefore we do not expect the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to take enforcement action in the short term against businesses and organisations as they work out how to address their use of cookies," he added.

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said: "I cannot bark at the industry at the moment because I have not got the regulations."

However, Mr Graham stressed that the government's confession that the regulations will be delayed should not be a spur to inaction.

"My message is that this is not your 'get out of jail free' card," he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12668552

http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/

So changes ahead, will be interesting to see exactly what & how it will work..
For example how many people read the 'Software Agreement' that needs to be 'agreed to' when loading a computer program? Also what alternative do you have...with software agreements you have 2 choices:
Agree the agreement exactly as it is & load the software
Do not agree & do not load the software..
Choice is sometimes not all it is cracked up to be.....

[rjansen1966]

Or you can install Firefox and setup very stringent cookie exceptions and only allow cookies from the websites where you really need them - like udonmap.com.

Code: Select all

com                  block
net                  block
biz                  block
adobe.com            allow session cookies
udonmap.com          allow session cookies
google.com           allow session cookies

This is a big advantage of Firefox over other browsers, that Firefox is very configurable. Very granular configuration.

And one more thing which I want to get off my chest - from the bbc article:

text files called "cookies".

Speak for yourself Mr. InternetExplorer. On Firefox and most other browsers, cookies are stored in one file. And this one file ("cookies.sqlite") contains all cookies. IE's way of storing cookies is very inefficient, because you end up with thousands of small files in your "Cookies" directory. In a Windows Active Directory Domain with roaming profiles this slows down the login process significantly.

So - install and use a proper browser, setup your cookie permissions and then you don't need a government to tell you how to crumble the cookies.

[BobHelm]

Interestingly enough rjansen1966 I just fired up my copy of FireFox 4 Beta, to see this announcement on the FireFox start up page.

Much more to be read about the details here...
http://blog.sidstamm.com/2011/01/opting ... l-ads.html

Can't argue what you are saying about FF compared to IE. I think the problem is that IE still has a very large amount of the browser business because people just do not bother.
I was reading an article the other day that said a very large number of people are still actually using IE version 6 which is no longer supported by Microsoft & will not work on a growing number of sites either..

[jackspratt]

Bob slightly off topic, but how are you finding FF4 beta (it is out in RC form now) compatibility with add-ons?

General sense only - I understand everyone will have different add-ons.

[BobHelm]

I have not got a ton of add ons...
WOT
Dictionary
Ant (a video downland)
Coolpreviews (a bit like Google Previews, but works with any link, not just Google)
Java Console
One for IP Masking (but we won't go into that )
Skype extension

All worked under 4 no problem ... except for the Skype one which gave me a warning that

Sk1.jpg (5.33 KiB) Viewed 844 times

With the further information that....

Sk2.jpg (10.16 KiB) Viewed 844 times

So rather my fault & I can get around it...

This site might be worth a look if you are worried Jack...
https://www.mozilla.com/en-US/blocklist/

Generally 4 has worked without any issues....although having things in different places is always a bit of a pain until you get used to it...It is suppose to be 'significantly quicker' but, too be honest I think we are talking in the nano seconds that mere mortals like me do not really notice...

Chrome 10 is suppose to be lightening fast to....a bit of reading on that here...
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/ch ... ag=nl.e539

[jackspratt]

OK - thanks Bob.

I'll give it a fling.

[rjansen1966]

From the blog:

Once this feature ships in Firefox, it's time for web sites to do the right thing; honor users' choice when they receive Do Not Track HTTP headers and opt-out these users from tracking.

This is a nice technology, but it relies on websites honoring a user's choice. And that's not gonna happen, because tracking and ads is their source of income.

So if you really don't want to be tracked on the internet, you (the user) need to actively block cookies in your webbrowser.

Personally I would much prefer if webbrowsers would allow me to turn off cookies and javascript for all sites per default, and then allow me to selectively whitelist sites (or domains) as needed.