Reddit is removing ability to opt out of ad personalization based on your activity on the platform

meiko60@lemmy.sdf.org to Technology@lemmy.ml – 1759 points –
Reddit is removing ability to opt out of ad personalization based on your activity on the platform | TechCrunch
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Uhm, that option was intreduced by sites and ad networks because the GDPR requires it so unless they plan to shut down buisness in the EU it's probably going to fail!

The company said that it will still have opt-out controls in “select countries” without specifying which ones.

I'm guessing that's how they plan to get around that. They will leave the toggle enabled for people registered in EU countries, and disable it everywhere else. A fairly risky way to handle it in my opinion.

Well, that's certainly illegal too, the GDPR requires opt-in and while there is room for interpritation (see all the shitty cookie banners) if you enable anything by default it's not going to fly!

About the cookie banners: I heard some time ago that EU wants to force browsers to have an option to automatically decline all non-essential cookies because those banners are pissing everyone off. What's with that plan, any updates?

The feature is actually older than any cookie banner (do not track request) but idk if the EU will overwork the law that way, it's a miracle that it passed at all and I would be surprised if the loopholes aren't made for some lobbyists in the first place!

While that’s true, I’ve seen GDPR enforcement to be sparse, at best. Someone has a cookie banner and they aren’t questioned, but even if you “deny all” there is still spyware on the site. I will do the usual. Hope for the best, expect the worst

The method of "enforcment" for that part of the GDPR is awful but for a big and fairly hated player like Reddit it will probably actually work, some organization or competitor just has to file a formal complaint. There was some NGO a few years ago that filed cimplaints against various big players and got platforms like Twitch to fix their banners that way but idk what happened to them!

Oh yeah not saying it won’t make waves for something like Reddit, it just wish it was more actively enforced from reports

I couldn't agree more, a single look at our newspapers in Austira reveals a sad trueth, even the good ones use illegal "consent or pay" cookie banners!

Something that always pissed me off is that while I might not be living in the EU currently I'm still a citizen but companies get to just fuck me over anyways?