this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2024
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Privacy

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Not sure how long this has been a thing but I was surprised to see that you cannot view the content without either agreeing to all or paying to reject.

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[–] [email protected] 116 points 4 months ago (4 children)

A common thing in continental Europe too. NOYB and some EU lawmakers are trying to make these pay-or-ok schemes illegal, but I guess in the UK you will be out of luck regarding that.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Wouldn't this be blatantly in conflict with the EU cookie law? Like I'm not from Europe but my understanding was that it needs to be equally easy to accept or reject all cookies. Dark patterns aren't allowed

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Currently it's a grey area I think

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

It's not a grey area, it's clearly illegal (consent has to be given voluntarily. If you can't use the site without paying, that's not voluntary). Agencies so far just decided to look the other way and play dumb. There are lawsuits ongoing.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 months ago

I think this type of scheme is illegal under the GDPR, which is in effect in the UK just as it is in the EU.

It's been a while since I worked with the GDPR, but from memory the wording is such that:

The data holder needs to allow people to opt out of data collection. The subject can request to be forgotten. The data holder explicitly cannot charge for this.

But changes move slow, and The Mirror is probably banking on nobody caring enough to complain, and Trading Standards being too underfunded and swamped with other work to investigate otherwise (which they are). If they're challenged, they'll just change tack, go "oops" and are unlikely to hit big fines unless they dig in.

Cookie laws are a horrible mess and always have done - the resulting consent banners are far more intrusive than anyone wanted.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

The EU is now fighting such schemes though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (2 children)

That’s doubtful - you have examples? Because if the service is based in the EU I’ll send those to the appropriate agency today.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

In Spain too, try marca.com, abc.es or el pais.es.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Like basically every German news outlet? And this is already being contested in courts as some German data protection agencies (falsely IMHO) ruled this as valid.