Using Google Fonts Breaches GDPR – Interdependent Thoughts

‘Like an atomic bomb’: So what now for the IAB’s GDPR fix after regulator snafu? - Digiday

Simply put, the popups asking people for consent whenever they land on a site are illegal.

Phantom Analyzer

A simple, real-time website scanner to see what invisible creepers are lurking in the shadows and collecting information about you.

Looks good for adactio.com, thesession.org, and huffduffer.com …but clearleft.com is letting the side down.

Parties and browsers

Tess calls for more precise language—like “site” and “origin”—when talking about browsers and resources:

When talking about web features with security or privacy impact, folks often talk about “first parties” and “third parties”. Everyone sort of knows what we mean when we use these terms, but it turns out that we often mean different things, and what we each think these terms mean usually doesn’t map cleanly onto the technical mechanisms browsers actually use to distinguish different actors for security or privacy purposes.

Personally, rather than say “third-party JavaScript”, I prefer the more squirm-inducing and brutually honest phrase “other people’s JavaScript”.

Surveillance giants: How the business model of Google and Facebook threatens human rights | Amnesty International

Amnesty International have released a PDF report on the out-of-control surveillance perpetrated by Google and Facebook:

Google and Facebook’s platforms come at a systemic cost. The companies’ surveillance-based business model forces people to make a Faustian bargain, whereby they are only able to enjoy their human rights online by submitting to a system predicated on human rights abuse. Firstly, an assault on the right to privacy on an unprecedented scale, and then a series of knock-on effects that pose a serious risk to a range of other rights, from freedom of expression and opinion, to freedom of thought and the right to non-discrimination.

However…

This page on the Amnesty International website has six tracking scripts. Also, consent to accept tracking cookies is assumed (check dev tools). It looks like you can reject marketing cookies, but I tried that without any success.

The stone PDF has been thrown from a very badly-performing glass house.

Consently - Privacy-friendly and GDPR compliant tracking

This looks very useful: a script that will allow visitors to tailor which tracking scripts they want to allow. Seems like a win-win to me: useful for developers, and useful for end users. A safe and sensible approach to GDPR.