Implemented Cookie Notice must not hide footer links

[Kirby]

I am sorry and I'd like to apologize. I know that such suggestions are a major PITA and that they sound just plain ridiculous (I wouldn't even argue that this one does not sound ridiculous), but:
The cookie notice should not hide the footer links like privacy policy, contact us, terms of service and about us (imprint).

Over the years, there have been quite a few court decisions in Germany (inccluding on by our federal court) that pages like Privacy policy and About us/Imprint must be quickly reachable (which is commonly accepted to be at most 2 clicks from any page) and that (intermediate) links must be obvious and easily identifiable.

As the cookie notice does hide the footer links, there is no "easy way" to reach those pages within 2 clicks as having to click "Accept" (which hides the notice and revveals the footer links = 2 clicks) or "Learn more" (which leads to a page with links to the privacy policy = 2 clicks) might not be considered an "abvious action" by the courts.

I therefore suggest to change the behaviour so that the body can be scrolled fully to he bottom so the links do become visible by scrolling just as they would if there was no notice.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Surely if you won't accept cookies from a website that tells you relies on cookies and gives you the option to accept them or not, why would you want to see any more pages of that website?

 

[Kirby]

Maybe because I found that this website violated the law and I want to find out whom I can sue for that

Jokes aside, it doesn't really matter why anyone would want to to that.
The only thing that matters is that the website is compliant, which might not fully be the case here.

 

[RobParker]

“which is commonly accepted to be” doesn’t sound like very legal phrasing to me. I’m assuming that 3 clicks is fine if one of those clicks is to accept the cookies.

 

[shining]

“which is commonly accepted to be” doesn’t sound like very legal phrasing to me. I’m assuming that 3 clicks is fine if one of those clicks is to accept the cookies.

No its not "fine". The Impressum / Legal Notice of a website based in Germany must be available within 2 clicks (Decision of the OLG Munich (judgment of 11.09.2003 - Ref. 29 U 2681/03)) AND the Link may not be hidden.

 

[S Thomas]

Pretty sure a legal notice overlapping a legal notice is pretty noticeable legal.

 

[shining]

https://www.e-recht24.de/news/abmahnung/10373-cookies-banner-abmahnung.html

Please use your google translator...

I do not know why people who are not affected by a law play it down again and again.

 

[Ozzy47]

So... Everyone should conform to what Germany wants to do?

 

[shining]

No, I think some of these problems can be solved individual by custom css for example. Haven´t tested the upcoming gdpr compliant version and cookie consent yet.

But... its not okay to tell wrong facts to make live easier as long as you are not affected. Thats all.

 

[S Thomas]

I'm from Germany and you missed an obvious joke. It's as OP said, pretty ridiculous. From a technical point of view - pretty sure - it's arguable why a legal notice is not allowed to overlap another legal notice, but hey, that's how Germany works. There's not much more to add to OPs request other than waiting for staffs response.
I actually believe those kind of suggestions would be better grouped in the GDPR thread, but that's not my decision.

 

[Ozzy47]

No, I think some of these problems can be solved individual by custom css for example. Haven´t tested the upcoming gdpr compliant version and cookie consent yet.

But... its not okay to tell wrong facts to make live easier as long as you are not affected. Thats all.

And it’s not okay to tell unresearched fear mongering propaganda.

Bottom line is it does not matter what XF, vB, WBB, WP, Phpbbb, etc, does to help a web admin be GDPR compliant out of the box, it is up to you as the website owner to ensure your site is compliant. It falls on your shoulders solely.

 

[shining]

These are 2 different things.. number one is already fined by court, so I can´t see any propaganda.. and two is.. you are right.. problems of every website owner. But I quit at this point because I don´t like discussions where you get blamed for taking part. So you are all right and anybody else is wrong.. have a good night

 

[Ozzy47]

Fined by court in Germany, hurray. What about Vietnam? Ukraine? Chad? Kuwait?

 

[S Thomas]

You do understand that XF is active on the whole globe, right? And that XF is a competitive, commercial company, right? And if their customers tell you that their product is not in line with their national regulations, it's not a good sign at all, right?

There's literally nothing to add to this topic other than waiting for a response from the staff (fixing / not fixing). No point in "discussing" this at all.

 

[AndrewSimm]

You do understand that XF is active on the whole globe, right? And that XF is a competitive, commercial company, right? And if their customers tell you that their product is not in line with their national regulations, it's not a good sign at all, right?

There's literally nothing to add to this topic other than waiting for a response from the staff (fixing / not fixing). No point in "discussing" this at all.

What about North Korea or China, where the government obviously spy on their people?

You realize things like GDPR are why American internet companies either shy away or leave Europe? It's if the EU is trying to tax American internet companies because they have made it so difficult for companies in their own country to succeed. How come the German Government website does not display a cookie notice?

 

[S Thomas]

How come the German Government website does not display a cookie notice?

No clue. Just visited their site with DNT on (got honored), 2 cookies set, both expired. Maybe that is a hint, idk. Ask them =D

 

[Kirby]

[ot]

You realize things like GDPR are why American internet companies either shy away or leave Europe?

Please don't get me wrong, but you seem to be confusing cause and reaction
Companies like Facebook (including Instagram and WhatsApp), Google, Twitter and Amazon who don't seem to care much for privacy, hate speech and fake news are the reason why we do have BS laws like the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (Network Enforcement Act).

How come the German Government website does not display a cookie notice?

I don't know, I just checked https://www.bundesregierung.de/ and didn't get any cookies.
But our justice department got successfully sued for storing IP addresses in 2007, so ...
[/ot]

 

[RobParker]

No its not "fine". The Impressum / Legal Notice of a website based in Germany must be available within 2 clicks (Decision of the OLG Munich (judgment of 11.09.2003 - Ref. 29 U 2681/03)) AND the Link may not be hidden.

I’m aware of the Impressum rules which is why I checked before posting. Most of the popular German websites I tried don’t follow the rules. It’s even worse on mobile as while the Impressum is on the first page, you need to scroll (a lot!) to get to it. I estimate something like 20 clicks/swipes on some sites to get to the bottom of the page where the links are.

That makes me think that no one actually cares and 3 clicks rather than 2 would be fine.

 

[Kirby]

That makes me think that no one actually cares and 3 clicks rather than 2 would be fine.

This assumption is wrong. It doesn't matter how long you have to scoll, if the link is in the footer and that footer is visible via scrolling on every page it's fine.

Though would be interesting to know which sites you did check, those I did are all compliant (which doesnt necesarily mean their Impresum by itself is compliant, many websites fail in getting this right).

 

[AndrewSimm]

[ot]

Please don't get me wrong, but you seem to be confusing cause and reaction
Companies like Facebook (including Instagram and WhatsApp), Google, Twitter and Amazon who don't seem to care much for privacy, hate speech and fake news are the reason why we do have BS laws like the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (Network Enforcement Act).


I don't know, I just checked https://www.bundesregierung.de/ and didn't get any cookies.
But our justice department got successfully sued for storing IP addresses in 2007, so ...
[/ot]

That is fine if that is how Germans want to run their country. In the United States, our Constitution guarantees us certain rights. One of those rights is called speech, which covers fake news and hate speech. It's important to note that under a system that regulates speech you have to have a regulator. It's a shame that a country like Germany does not understand that, especially considering what all went on during the 20th century.

Here is an article that truly demonstrates what Germany thinks of privacy.
https://www.thelocal.de/20170310/germany-passes-law-increasing-video-surveillance-in-public

It seems as if a tracking cookie that has no PII is a problem, yet the government can record me. In fact they should require people to opt into video monitoring.

At the end of the day laws like this are just going to force technology companies out of Europe.

I will end with this "Make America Great Again!"