Browser Promises to Tackle Cookie Consent Notices

"Privacy-focused" web browser Brave will block cookie consent banners that annoy some users. Its makers say the move will still protect users from unwanted tracking.

Cookie consent banners appear on many sites affected by a series of privacy laws, most notable Europe's General Data Protection Regulation. The laws require explicit, active consent from users to handle personal data, including through creating cookies that can track online activity.

To comply with such laws, sites will often put up a banner or pop-up window whenever somebody first visits a site, asking them to give or withhold permission for cookies. Critics say the laws backfire as such banners are often so annoying that users simply click to accept cookies without reading the details.

Banners Bypassed

Some browsers and browser extensions try to automatically respond to cookie banners, either by accepting cookies or using a "robot" to simulate the user rejecting all third-party cookies and those which track the user on other websites.

Brave says these don't always work as intended and can slow down interaction with a website or even leave people tracked when they didn't want to be. (Source: brave.com)

Instead, it says it's configured the browser to simply stop the banners appearing in the first place (even in an "invisible" fashion) and go straight to the website. This means the site never actually asks the user for consent to cookies, so the question of whether it respects the user's decision is irrelevant. (Source: bleepingcomputer.com)

Third-Party Block

Brave says the approach works alongside its default option to block third-party cookies, where one site tracks a user's activity on another site. Instead, it only allows first-party cookies where a site tracks information that enhances the user's experience such as automatically getting weather forecasts set to their local areas, or keeping items in a virtual shopping cart.

The theory is that as Brave is blocking third-party cookies anywhere, it's safe to completely bypass the process of the site asking for permission to issue such cookies.

What's Your Opinion?

How often do you see cookie consent banners? Do you read them and make a choice or simply click "accept" to get through to the site? How much attention to do you pay to cookies and other privacy or tracking issues?