There was a time where you could just close the tab if it was that bad, but now pretty much all websites are like this so there's no choice.
Enable the uBlock "annoyances" filters to staunch the tide of popups.
You are right about all the rest.
You don't /need/ them if you only have essential cookies:
> At GitHub, we want to protect developer privacy, and we find cookie banners quite irritating, so we decided to look for a solution. After a brief search, we found one: just don’t use any non-essential cookies. Pretty simple, really.
"only"? No, they are here because you use non-essential cookies AND regulation says you must ask visitors about them.
There is no need for pop ups under the gdpr. If you are handling personal information, giving cookies etc which aren’t required (E.g to sign in), then ask at the point of signing in/up. Otherwise you don’t need to set cookies, you might want to, to track and monetise your visitors, but that’s different.
There are many cases where what publications consider "essential" for their business do not match what the EU has decided is "essential".
Heck, when GDPR was first proposed most publishers assumed advertising would be allowed under "essential" business uses since they can't provide content if they don't get paid. Clarification on this only came a couple of months before GDPR enforcement started, causing a bit of a scramble for publishers and advertisers.
EU Directive 2009/136/EC
Tracking cookies are not mandatory. You are not obligated to present cookie banner: you can simply drop nonessential cookies.
I believe they are a protest by largely US-owned companies against regulation, designed to annoy internet users and turn them against regulation.
Even if this is true, it's something that should have been expected by EU legislators. Their beliefs seem to be that companies are acting in bad faith by secretly tracking users and misusing the information that they gather (basically true), and also that if they impose vague rules that companies need to get consent for tracking then they'll act in good faith and give users clear and convenient ways of opting out (ha ha ha).
