Cookies are the bane of most internet users’ lives. Those constant pop-ups demanding attention and stopping you from actually doing what you want until you’ve consented or declined.
All for the supposed boost to our online privacy, when cookies are just one part of how your every online step is tracked.
Well, I’m done with having to click through cookie pop-ups, and have a handy privacy-focused Chrome extension to thank: Consent-O-Matic.
Never bother with a cookie pop-up again
This extension clicks through the tangled mess to get you there quicker
I’ve previously used a different cookie-consent Chrome extension to do this job, but it didn’t quite do it how I wanted.
I don’t care about cookies was a handy extension that cut down on cookie pop-up interactions, but it didn’t do it with privacy in mind. Instead, I don’t care about cookies would accept any cookies just to make the screen disappear.
Consent-O-Matic takes a privacy-focused approach to the problem, allowing you to configure how you want the extension to approach the cookies. It basically helps you avoid those situations when the cookie pop-up has been designed to be confusing, so you end up clicking Agree or Consent just to get rid of it.
Consent-O-Matic is also designed to recognize the main providers of cookie pop-ups across the web. You may be surprised to know that many websites and services outsource their cookies and associated pop-ups, because it’s easy to ensure they comply with the various online data collection regulations (such as GDPR or CCPA).
Configure your Consent-O-Matic preferences
You can choose to give some data or none
So, the issue with cookie consent clicker apps is that they don’t always focus on privacy, as I found out with the I don’t care about cookies app. I stopped using the extension because instead of declining cookies, it would accept them to make sure the website works. I get that the idea of the extension is to remove, hide, or click through the cookies, but it seems like offering the chance to make your own decision would be useful.
Consent-O-Matic’s approach is that if it can’t immediately figure out the best option, it “will choose the more privacy preserving option.” It does this in conjunction with the extension options that you can toggle, though, as the app says, “all tracking is rejected by default.”
- Preferences and functionality: Allow sites to remember personal choices and information, such as your name and region.
- Performance and analytics: Allow the collection of information that reports on your usage.
- Information storage and access: Relates to the storage of information on your device, such as identifiers, cookies, and so on.
- Content selection, delivery, and reporting: Allow the collection of information to be combined with previously collected information.
- Ad selection, delivery, and reporting: Agree to the collection of information specifically relating to advertising, to show personalized adverts, and to collate the information with other already held information.
- Other purposes: The collection of data that doesn’t fit into any of the other categories.
As said, if you leave all of these unchecked, Consent-O-Matic will do its very best to decline any cookie pop-ups, while preserving your privacy as much as possible.
Customize your rules
If you can—it’s a bit confusing
Another positive for Consent-O-Matic is that you can implement personal rules for blocking specific cookies and other forms of data collection. Consent-O-Matic automatically flags most cookies in my experience, but there are always more out there.
However, implementing a custom rule isn’t a simple process. The custom Consent-O-Matic rule page has a lot of information, and it isn’t entirely clear about the information you’ll need to create a custom rule.
A big part of it is figuring out the specific name for the cookie container, which can be done with the Inspect feature in most browsers, or by pressing F12 and hovering over the cookie consent form. Then, you have to figure out the specific actions required, how the consent process will work, and more.
Please note I’m not knocking the Consent-O-Matic app here. It’s an open-source privacy tool that provides a proper framework for creating custom rules. It’s just on the more technical side of things, and that’s a bit off-putting. But, given most folks will be just fine with the default options, it’s really not a problem.
These 5 browser privacy myths won’t protect you (but this will)
Ultimately, it’s about layers, not a single switch.
Break free from time-consuming and privacy-bashing cookies
Online privacy is a nightmare. While there are browsers designed to better protect your privacy, it’s not always easy to make the changes necessary to keep your data safe.
The good news is that there are heaps of other folks out there who feel just like you and want better privacy. In that, privacy is like a layer cake: you have to use a few different privacy-focused extensions to really start making a difference, but it’s worthwhile in the end.
