Cookies are old news. What about browser fingerprinting which can track you across websites? https://www.amiunique.org/

There's basically no easy way to safeguard against it without making browsing nearly unusable.

This is a win for everyone in Europe, and possibly beyond. [Emphasis mine.] Companies may no longer secretly track your behavior based on “consent” given under pressure. Hopefully, this will not only put an end to these dubious practices, but also to those pesky cookie banners.

But we’re not there yet. Regulators have ruled the system illegal, and the court’s ruling has now confirmed it. Still, the companies making billions from this model won’t stop on their own. That’s why European regulators must now truly step up: enforce the law and make sure these companies actually comply.

Regulators try not to get compromised by lobbyists when billions of dollars are at stake.

I sincerely wish you good luck.

Yeah it's Javascript that's the issue that can just take all this data in the client and send it wherever. And that's exactly what's happening.

From time to time, important news gets overshadowed by other headlines, even though it could have a profound impact on our (online) world. To most of us, few things are more bothersome than the dreaded cookie banners. On countless websites, you’re confronted with a pesky pop-up urging you to agree to something. You end up consenting without really knowing what it is. If you try to figure out what’s going on, you quickly get lost among the often hundreds of “partners” who want access to your personal data. Even if you do give your consent, it’s questionable whether you truly understand what you’re agreeing to.

What's the solution?

Big corpos aren't going to comply and pay a small fine instead. https://proton.me/tech-fines-tracker

how is Belgium to live in and what would it look like to live there right now?

It's literally between France, Germany and the Netherlands, I mean geographically yes but roughly culturally too. Arguably Brussels is a mix of all that and other cities again match where they are.

So... it's a Western European country with good quality of life despite thanks to having one of the very highest taxes rate. You don't have to be a socialist to be here but if you want to become a rich entrepreneur it's going to be challenging.

Source : immigrated there from France ~10 years ago.

Edit: s/despite/thanks to/

I'm not sure a technical solution is feasible, other than dns-blocking these trackers. I suppose lawmakers need to spring into action to make this shit illegal.

it's a Western European country with good quality of life despite having one of the very highest taxes rate.

"Despite"? Try, "because"

I'm not sure a technical solution is feasible, other than dns-blocking these trackers. I suppose lawmakers need to spring into action to make this shit illegal.

Cookies are old news. What about browser fingerprinting which can track you across websites? https://www.amiunique.org/

There's basically no easy way to safeguard against it without making browsing nearly unusable.

I 100% agree and totally get why I am being downvoted, but just disabling advertising or banning tracking cookies are not a magic fix to save the internet from the perspective of the companies that now show these ads. But I am definitely I favour of changes, the enshittication went way to far already. But there is more than big social media platforms is what I mean to say.

it's a Western European country with good quality of life despite having one of the very highest taxes rate.

"Despite"? Try, "because"

wow i didn't know belgium was based. I guess i was wrong when i thought they peaked with french fries

I think they’re actually right about this one, taxes tend to cover things that give you high standard of living more than quality of life.

Idk, their waffles and chocolates are pretty good too.

I think you can reap the benefits from just using a VPN and set the country to Belgium?

From time to time, important news gets overshadowed by other headlines, even though it could have a profound impact on our (online) world. To most of us, few things are more bothersome than the dreaded cookie banners. On countless websites, you’re confronted with a pesky pop-up urging you to agree to something. You end up consenting without really knowing what it is. If you try to figure out what’s going on, you quickly get lost among the often hundreds of “partners” who want access to your personal data. Even if you do give your consent, it’s questionable whether you truly understand what you’re agreeing to.

And beer