Are GDPR cookie popups useful or just annoying?

I feel like they are just annoying. Some of them have made the UI so weird that it's impossible to know if I have turned them off or not. Also there are some cookies which are called "Functional" and then they give 7000 word essays on what they are. If I had enough time I could customize this but I don't have the time to review it for all the websites.

It would be so nice if there was a single plugin which everyone used and I can plan in central ui.

My current policy for "Cookie Consent" dialogues:

1. Fire up uMatrix and globally block cookies for domain.

2. Fire up uBlock Origin to block element on page.

3. Self-Destructing Cookies for edge case motherlovers.

Remember, boys and girls and all that lieth betwixt and beyond: FIRST pillage THEN burn!

https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius/102292441272732943

Annoying and useless. These kind of popups have become so widespread that a regular internet user pretty much agrees to anything as soon as the pop up. Private mode users are being trolled for opting for privacy with this regulation.

They're supposed to be useful, ie the site should not be stalking you until you say yes, the consent prompt should not be misleading (no dark patterns) and service shouldn't be denied until you say yes (I'd argue taking over the entire page and preventing you from browsing until you make a choice would be against the regulation).

Note that this is not just about cookies but about any kind of stalking; browser fingerprinting, local storage, etc. It's more of a legal thing where you gave them permission to track you as opposed to a technical restriction, so a browser-based solution isn't really an equivalent (you can block their cookies but they'll still fingerprint your browser).

The problem is, a lot of them are badly implemented and load the trackers regardless, a lot are badly configured and consider Google/Shitbook as "necessary" cookies you can't opt-out of, and most of them are a pain to opt-out (with Yahoo/Oath - the cancer of the internet - in prime position - their GDPR flow is outright offensive).

Sadly until there's actual enforcement of the regulations things will stay that way.

Annoying. If there is to be some legal requirement, it should be to respect some protocol that would allow you to set those cookie settings once in your browser settings.

As is, it is a complete disaster that accomplishes nothing positive.

Annoying as hell