[manifest] Cookies and data collection policies (#281)

This might be something for an extension... but in the UK (and Europe), there is a "cookie law" which is supposed to help website visitors understand the data that is being collected about them:

http://ico.org.uk/for_organisations/privacy_and_electronic_communications/the_guide/cookies

http://nocookielaw.com/

This comes from the concerns about the amount of tracking/data about people... and is also covered by the Data Protection Act (UK), which basically ensures that people own the data that is collected about them, and they must be informed that the data exists.

Unfortunately when the ICO tried to enforce the law, the didn't really have the technological ability todo so properly (websites have a habit of setting cookies on page load).

I was wondering at the time (2011) if we could create a file that listed the cookies in use, with some meta data about them (name, human readable description, if required, type, etc):

https://www.craigfrancis.co.uk/features/thoughts/browserCookies/

Then the ICO would be able to say "you must implement that", rather than the current approach of the random "this site uses cookies" type of banners you see on different websites (of which the vast majority are still technically violating the law, along with the one on the ICO's own website).

It would also require the browsers to implement an interface that allowed people to view details about the cookies (ideally with options for people to block "statistics/tracking cookies", or block any cookie not listed in the manifest - i.e the websites developers, so they don't forget to update the file when they add a new cookie to the site).

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Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub:
https://github.com/w3c/manifest/issues/281