Cookies

[Silvia Bluejay]

I get this message when I log on:

 

Quote

We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners.

 

Well, I don't want that to happen. I don't want this website to share any information about my use of this site with your partners. But I'm only offered a button called "Got it!", so I can't deny permission. I'm not sure this is legal in the UK?

[DGBass]

Looks like a new feature and I recall there was some discussion about cookie banners fairly recently. I did get some friendly feedback from the powers that be to explain why certain cookies were needed but I must admit i wasn't fully convinced all the cookies could be classed as totally necessary. Anyway, my cookie flavours appear to be in italian for some reason🤔

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by DGBass

[Gasman]

It's very annoying to see this cookie warning flashed up on every screen navigation move with no option but 'Got It!' I do not want my browsing behaviour sold on to advertisers. Many sites are now giving the option to reject all cookies, or at least to reject all non-essential cookies, so why has Basschat management gone for the opposite? Meh!

[rwillett]

My warnings in English   I’m also not getting it each time I use Basschat. Given I support  Basschat as a subscriber I don’t like that. I would have hoped my payment would have avoided this sort of tracking for us all.
 

Dead easy for next year, I won’t support the site financially. 
 

Actions have consequences. 
 

Rob

[Silvia Bluejay]

The more I delve into the Privacy Policy and list of advertisers on Ezoic the more horrified I am. I've turned off all I could turn off, but the Strict setting on Firefox and a similar setting on my newly-enabled Adblock for this site will stay.

 

Remember that GDPR does not exist in the US, where Ezoic is based and where our data is open to far more manipulation and selling than anywhere in Europe.

 

I'm not a happy bunny.

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Silvia Bluejay

[Kiwi]

I'm sorry that the pop up caused some members to feel alarmed.  I'd also like to clarify some misunderstandings too.

Firstly BC isn't tracking your browsing history of other websites.  We can't, even if we could we wouldn't be  interested because its not relevant to management of the forum.  We are definitely NOT selling your information to anyone and if it became clear that Ezoic was doing it on the sly then I would oppose it.
 

Lets put notions about tracking in context.  Any website you access that features third party advertising - news sites, social media, any sites accessed using Google Chrome when you are signed into Google, any site that uses Google Analytics will track what demand there is from users of a site and where in the site that demand is greatest.  Google also shares very broad demographic information (age, country, gender, OS, browser) that those users have already agreed to provide to Google.  Mobile apps are arguably a grey area for privacy but BC doesn't have an app so it's less relevant to this thread.

 

Because a few members have lumped what BC does with the pop up message that came from Ezoic, I'm going to address what information we have access to next.  Like nearly every popular website out there, we run Google Analytics because it provides more context about how BC is being used.   If some of you have Google accounts and weren't aware of this, it may be an idea to review what information you have agreed to share with Google.  Google won't identify individual users from the information that it gathers.  In fact in July Google Chrome no longer permits third party cookies, which has put the online advertising industry into a bit of a spin.  So the main point here is that BC doesn't and won't breach your privacy, or as stated above, sell your information, and neither does Google

Hopefully that will provide some reassurance that your privacy is still protected and respected by us.
 

Lastly...any member who still has concerns despite the above can use an ad blocker.  It's a simple solution and you stay in control regardless of where your concerns lie.

 

 

On 31/08/2023 at 05:53, Silvia Bluejay said:

I get this message when I log on:

 

 

Well, I don't want that to happen. I don't want this website to share any information about my use of this site with your partners. But I'm only offered a button called "Got it!", so I can't deny permission. I'm not sure this is legal in the UK?

Yeah, me neither.  I'm suspending the trial until further reassurances are provided.  If anyone has any remaining concerns about Ezoic breaching privacy, drop me a pm to ensure it doesn't get lost amongst other responses and I'll get you an answer from them.  They're already on notice over this slip up as it is and if I'm not satisfied that their responses are transparent enough then the trial may end.

I have invited a representative from Ezoic to sign up and we can discuss concerns with them directly.  They say this pop up wasn't generated by them so it seems there is some investigation to do on who was responsible for it and why.

[Happy Jack]

2 hours ago, Kiwi said:

I have invited a representative from Ezoic to sign up and we can discuss concerns with them directly.  They say this pop up wasn't generated by them so it seems there is some investigation to do on who was responsible for it and why.

 

Thanks Steve. I appreciate that you've now put them on Standby but that last comment on its own would be enough to have me reaching for the Off switch.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

"We value your privacy "  Yes , we believe you 🤣 

Having said that , an ex pm did say a couple of years ago that we wouldn't be getting anymore of this nonsense , yet here we are ..

[Silvia Bluejay]

I share everybody's displeasure at the situation. We do not need Ezoic to ruin our enjoyment of this site.

 

My default Privacy panel on this site was almost completely unticked by default - which is OK - but had a few ticked items that can't be unticked - which is bad.

 

I have unleashed both Adblock Plus and Firefox against this plague, but I'm still feeling very uneasy.

 

Firefox:

 

Adblock Plus:

[Silvia Bluejay]

3 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I bet many of the folks up in arms put up with far worse from Facebook, Google, Amazon etc. because they don't realise how much they are being cookied.

Not me. Strict Firefox and Adblock on everything, no Facebook, Amazon, Ebay etc. apps on my phone, no logging into anything via my social media. It's all actually far less inconvenient than those sites are trying to make you believe.

[Silvia Bluejay]

1 minute ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Follow the manage settings button. It's accessible from the Orange Tab.

Not at the time I posted it wasn't!

[Kiwi]

Hi all, thanks for your feedback.  This is way more complicated than it was supposed to be.  I'm going to stop the trial. 

[Silvia Bluejay]

Yes I got the Italian version too, @DGBass! I thought it was because I visit a lot of Italian sites and type a lot of emails in Italian, and that my computer perhaps already had cookies indicating the presence of that language somewhere in the system. Interesting to know that's not the case, and instead the message is simply random.

Curioser and curioser.

[ahpook]

I got the biscotti too

[Silvia Bluejay]

8 minutes ago, DGBass said:

Looks like a new feature and I recall there was some discussion about cookie banners fairly recently. I did get some friendly feedback from the powers that be to explain why certain cookies were needed but I must admit i wasn't fully convinced all the cookies could be classed as totallt necessary.

 

 

I think the bit about sharing info with their partners is a third-party cookie matter, which the user should definitely be allowed to reject from this page, not just from their browser's settings. (That would apply globally to the user's browsing experience, not just basschat.co.uk.)

[ahpook]

I'm with  @Silvia Bluejay 

[barkin]

9 minutes ago, ahpook said:

I'm with  @Silvia Bluejay 

Yup. 

 

Italian here too

[SpondonBassed]

Right on Sylvia.

 

What does "Got it" mean anyway?  It's not exactly explicit consent.  Why can't we have the option to reject all but essential cookies like a lot of other sites do?

[tauzero]

I get the message in English, but very briefly, then it disappears. It took me a while before I could work out what it said (I blame midweek alcohol).

[tauzero]

41 minutes ago, tauzero said:

I get the message in English, but very briefly, then it disappears. It took me a while before I could work out what it said (I blame midweek alcohol).

 

I may be wrong, the pop-up might be being translated immediately.

[rwillett]

It appears that you no longer have the right to opt out of cookies under UK law. This changed last year 2022 as part of the Government drive to liberalise the internet. This liberalisation appears to only benefit people who collect data on you. It doesn’t help you. The exception to this is when websites collect information from children. I cannot recall what information is requested on signing up. However since the ICO does absolutely nothing to enforce cookie compliance under UK law, the law is mostly disregarded. 
 

It appears that in the UK the inability to opt out is legal. 
 

However in the EU, users must explicitly opt in to cookies. The exact opposite of the UK. This means the cookie is illegal for EU users as it gives no ability to use this site without denying non essential cookies. The EU and local states do take personal information and cookies seriously so any complaint might be looked at. 

 

I might try and look at the site from a European based VPN and see what it looks like. 
 

I’ll also look at what extensions are available to clear and kill cookies. Poisoning the well is the other option. 
 

think of it as yet another Brexit dividend. 
 

Rob

[rwillett]

These are the trackers that Safari on an iPhone is blocking for basschat.

 

c

[ped]

Mines in Italian too! I’m not involved in this work so I can’t help with it I’m afraid. Personally I think third party ads are a waste of time. 

[Fionn]

As well as the imposition of unwelcome cookies … Since this started, my navigation of the site is now impeded by pop up adverts, sometimes stacking on top of one another.

 

This doesn’t bode well.

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Fionn

[rwillett]

30 minutes ago, Fionn said:

As well as the imposition of unwelcome cookies … Since this started, my navigation of the site is now impeded by pop up adverts, sometimes stacking on top of one another.

 

This doesn’t bode well.

 

 

 

I don't get any popup ads on either Firefox on Mac or Safari on iPhone. I have all sorts of extensions to block stuff though as I detest all the trackers and cookies. Stringly suggest adding in various things like Privacy Badger, Ghostery, AdBlock and going through your privacy settings to kill any leaks of information you can. I stopped using Chrome a few years ago, Firefox works very well except for development and a few websites. Safari is pretty good but not as good yet. Apple does appear to block a lot of stuff in Safari anyway.

 

YMMV

Rob

[Si600]

 

3 hours ago, rwillett said:

I might try and look at the site from a European based VPN and see what it looks like. 

 

I'm coming in from the EU, with a German SIM card and I'm also only getting Got it! as an option. I'm also getting it every single time I browse to BC.