Hi Guys n gals,
It seems new laws are in the works to make all our lives just that little bit harder
For webmasters this means an uphill struggle in targeting your campaigns effectively, and for players it likely means a lot more pop ups asking them to allow the site to gather info.
Can anyone explain the logic of this one to me?
I think the problem is down to the MIS-use of cookies, and a growing concern that "somehow" our private details seem to keep on ending up in places we NEVER gave permission for. Now it seems we have something of an OVER-reaction, since the changes seem to do MORE than is needed by the aims stated.
The problem seems to be that every time users make changes to protect their privacy, the big marketing firms introduce ever more sophisticated means to neuter the measures taken by users, and the downloading of "malware" without consent is a growing problem. Most "malware" comes from the online advertising industry, and is a means to bypass many of the browser based controls.
Although aimed at curbing the excesses of the advertising industry, casino & poker operators could find they have a BIG problem, as the new law could make many of the measures used to combat fraud through tracking & profiling ILLEGAL, since they involve planting a file on a users PC when they register their account, which is then used to uniquely identify that PC, and catch out attempts to create additional accounts using different details.
There are already tools around that savvy users can use to protect their privacy, but this requires the user to know where to look, and how to use them. The new law would place this burden on the software suppliers, meaning full protection is the default, with users having to opt IN, rather than opt out, of tracking.
Unfortunately, this law ONLY applies in the EU, and unless ALL countries introduce similar laws, websites can still choose not to comply simply by moving their websites to servers in countries without such laws. This could even lull users into a false sense of security, since they will believe the law now protects them, and so they no longer need the protection of anti-malware products.
Now we need some laws that are EFFECTIVE at stopping spam. There are already laws that make spam illegal, but if anything, the problem is WORSE.
This new law will not be much better unless it can be enforced, and against EVERY website, wherever it is located.