On: Violating Terms of Use Isn’t a Crime, EFF Tells Co...

[08-15]

I wonder if placing a cookie on my computer without prior written consent constitutes "unauthorized access". Class action anyone?

[roywiggins → 08-15]

It's your own browser that interprets the header, saves the cookie, and passes it back to sites you visit. Passing a "here's a cookie" header to your machine doesn't, on its own, do anything. Your browser has to actively parse and store it.

[cgriswald → roywiggins]

By the same token, my sending an HTTP request to a server doesn't, on its own, do anything. Their server has to actively parse the request and send data.

[Sean1708 → 08-15]

In Britain it's illegal for a website to store a cookie without informing you, so I have a feeling someone may have already tried this.

[Silhouette → Sean1708]

No, it isn't. That's not what the infamous "cookie law" says, nor how it's been interpreted in practice by official regulators across the EU.

[Sean1708 → Silhouette]

What does it actually say?

[Silhouette → Sean1708]

The details are probably too complicated for an HN comment, but one point that sometimes gets missed is that you normally don't have the same disclosure/consent obligations for cookies that are essential to the normal operation of the site like login tokens or tracking what's in a shopping basket.

[AstralStorm → Sean1708]

Likewise in EU.