What actually happens when someone ‘accepts all cookies’?
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Great answers already. Now for the sake of explaining like you’re five : you give your permission for the website to sell all the data they can track about you to any other third party database. These databases are used to link isolated infos about you to deduce or predict more complex behaviours, defining a behavioural profile that will be used for targetting ads. This is why some sites give the choice between accepting cookies *or* subscribing to a monthly price.
More simply, all these different website tracks are centralized as a unique psychological and behavioural signature. It’s been awhile since it started, and that’s why Google and other aggregators like social medias no longer need cookies, as they already got a long enough signature for each individual to be [unique](https://www.wired.com/story/google-floc-cookies-chrome-topics/).
Many documentaries explain this very well, including the well-known The Social Dilemna on Netflix.
Another example : I once worked for a company that asked me to create a data aggregator creating a link between collected mails from a supermarket wifi access point, and phone numbers on a stadium ticketing service. Since that day I knew it was pointless to give my phone number to social media websites “for security reasons” , as they already knew it. This was long before GPRD laws.
Data collection have also reached other mediums like what you write from mobile keyboards, what you say through mobile microphones.
A good experience to observe is Google News app on Android phones. You will see that most news popping up have a more or less direct link with your past days conversations irl, written messages and web activity.
This has honestly come out of control for us, consumers, so I’ve decided to rather play with it than battling against such a behemoth tide. The result is that I’ve come to be pretty satisfied with my version of the global profile algorithm so far, most suggestions on most platforms are pretty good. Except ads of course. Ads *always* miss the mark and suggest me stuff I don’t care about. It’s pretty miserable.
It pains me to say that but nowadays the only way to not get collected is to not use any internet connection at all. Which is basically impossible. It’s quite shocking how it became the norm, and how we got used to it without batting an eye. The benefits of getting everything for free surpassed the inconveniences I guess.
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