--- title: "Cookie banners show everything that's wrong with the EU" url: https://daily.dev/posts/cookie-banners-show-everything-that-s-wrong-with-the-eu-csbtit5wh source_url: https://world.hey.com/dhh/cookie-banners-show-everything-that-s-wrong-with-the-eu-3bfcf03d type: article source: "David Heinemeier Hansson" published: 2024-08-05T19:42:56.250Z updated: 2024-08-05T19:43:06.210Z tags: ["privacy"] reading_time: 2 upvotes: 49 comments: 17 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Cookie banners show everything that's wrong with the EU **[David Heinemeier Hansson](https://daily.dev/sources/dhh)** · 2 min read · 49 upvotes · 17 comments ## Summary The post criticizes the EU's approach to tech legislation, using cookie banners as an example of bureaucratic inefficiency that annoys users without significantly improving privacy. It argues that Europe's legislative failures hinder its ability to foster tech innovation and compares it unfavorably to other regions like the US. The author calls for a radical rethink of how Europe legislates technology to avoid wasting the potential of its smart and capable entrepreneurs. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@james8** · 16 upvotes > I'm a bit confused by this post, it reads more that you just don't like cookie banners because.. they're done poorly? > > There's no real examples of any potential fixes that could be done other than just saying "It sucks". **@coppnic** · 14 upvotes > The opening itself shows right on that the problem is the companies, not the EU. "Companies have spent billions on cookie banner compliance only to endlessly annoy users ..." > > Almost every company, with a few exceptions, purposely trick the users. They (illegally) design the accept all button so that users rather click it. They make it (illegally) difficult to deny specific cookies. They often (illegally) make it difficult to decline all cookies. > > it should have started with "Companies have spent billions on scammy cookie banner compliance with the goal to endlessly trick, confuse and annoy... **@jaoord** · 9 upvotes > The actual problem is data hungry advertisers. everything else is bandaid. **@ghost** · 4 upvotes > I completely agree with this. Cookies aren't a real privacy problem. They can track you from site to site with information such as your phone number, the browser add-ons you have, etc. It's very easy. > > But the EU policy makers are people that couldn't get elected in their countries or were chosen as a protest against the EU itself. It's an inherently flawed and undemocratic entity. > > The sooner it's gone, the better. For everyone. **@strootje** · 2 upvotes > A bunch of old people deciding a bunch of stuff they know nothing off. Nothing new here. > > Biggest issue with the policies they come up with is that they are unpolicable. It just costs way too much money. Here in the Netherlands we have fairly strict privacy laws, even compared to the eu. But an authoritative body with no money and nowhere near enough capacity. > > And people who are tech savvy enough just blindly accept all cookies and clear browser caches everytime ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Don’t just attend KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon, Merge Forward your experience\!](https://daily.dev/posts/don-t-just-attend-kubecon-cloudnativecon-merge-forward-your-experience--l0rpp73x8) · CNCF · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Announcing H2 2026 KCDs](https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-h2-2026-kcds-m96goajm1) · CNCF · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Two months of Open Community Groups](https://daily.dev/posts/two-months-of-open-community-groups-asf52zhbs) · CNCF · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [CNCF Unveils Schedule for KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon Europe 2026](https://daily.dev/posts/cncf-unveils-schedule-for-kubecon-cloudnativecon-europe-2026-ikhcoa5cb) · CNCF · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [CNCF Debuts KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon Japan 2026 Schedule](https://daily.dev/posts/cncf-debuts-kubecon-cloudnativecon-japan-2026-schedule-xp5pyudub) · CNCF · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#privacy](https://daily.dev/tags/privacy) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/cookie-banners-show-everything-that-s-wrong-with-the-eu-csbtit5wh)