Activists launch action against user-tracking 'cookie banner...

VIENNA: A group of online privacy activists said Monday it is taking action against hundreds of websites over their use of pop-up banners asking users to consent to "cookies", the files that track users' activity. The Vienna-based NOYB group (an acronym of "none of your business") said it would be presenting more than 500 draft complaints to companies over what it calls the "cookie banner terror" which has turned the internet into "a frustrating experience for users all over Europe". NOYB says many of the consent pop-ups which have become almost ubiquitous on the internet do not conform to EU laws, including the landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The group says the pop-ups in question do not give the user the simple "yes or no" to data collection that the law requires. It says the banners are often designed in a way that make it "extremely complicated to click anythi...