this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2023
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75
Cookie wall: what is legitimate interest about (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Many websites have a - huge- part in their cookie wall, called 'legitimate interest'. I never allow them and i wonder; is this just a loophole to be able to force certain cookies on us anyway?

I can't imagine it is harmless, but i never hear anyone discussing these type of cookies.

EDIT: Everyone, thank you so much for taking the effort to answer. These replies were very helpful and often quite detailed. I've read them all and it certainly gives food for thought. I also read that EU page, which is indeed not really clarifying much.

I agree that we need to do as much as possible to block all these invaders of our privacy, though it is ridiculous that we have to make so much effort to protect ourselves. And i know many people around me, who just let it all happen and are sometimes not even aware of such things as trackers. And honestly, they shouldn't have to be aware, it is infuriating that these things are either allowed, or those companies taking the - small - risk to get away with it, because most people won't bother with law suits and what not, certainly not when so many websites have these shady practices...

Again, thank you; i'm glad i asked :-)

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[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Legitimate interest is the phrasing used by the legislation, which is why companies use it. The wording of the law is pretty lax so a lot of companies put whatever they want in there. I think the intent of the law is to have those cookies be the kind that the website needs to work. For example, they might use that to store which cookies you chose to enable. If you don't want analytics cookies, the site would make a note of that in those necessary cookies.

Personally, I have my browser set up to clear cookies when I close it, and I have a few sites set up as exceptions.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

So, I've been asking myself what "legitimate interest" is supposed to mean.

I think the intent of the law is to have those cookies be the kind that the website needs to work. For example, they might use that to store which cookies you chose to enable

Companies actually don't need to ask you to allow cookies which are strictly needed for the site to work. They will usually still show a category "required cookies" as part of the cookie list but you generally can't disable them.

However, the "legitimate interest" stuff is usually deselectable and paired with another regular check box for the same third party.