Yahoo Finance Britons still blocked from websites and apps a month after GDPR
Popular websites and apps still remain blocked for EU users one month after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance deadline.
The set of data privacy rules brought in by Brussels, which companies have had two years to prepare for, has led businesses and news outlets to lock out European customers rather than comply with the measures.
Top-selling US outlets such as The LA Times, the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News, is still blocking users. When EU visitors go on the websites a message reads: “We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.”
Similarly, widely used smartphone apps such as Instapaper and Unroll.me are unavailable in the EU as the companies are yet to comply with the piece of regulation that contains 57,509 words.
Some retailers, such as upscale furniture store Pottery Barn, are still not accepting orders from the EU. Pottery Barn tells its users they cannot make purchases "due to technical challenges caused by new regulations in Europe". This message is repeated by US sports shop Dick's Sporting Goods and vintage clothes outlet ModCloth.
GDPR compliance has also seen some companies make tracking-free access to its sites reportedly such a long process that allowing tracking becomes the only immediate option.
For example, access to Forbes' website requires users to access their cookies preferences. If users choose "required cookies" only, they are faced with a wait while Forbes tries to handle the request, which customers claim can “last for days”.
It appears that @Forbes just deactivates their site for people who opt out of advertising cookies. I tried all the possible privacy settings, waited for days, and then the only working option is when you allow really shady characters to spy on you. "Thanks." pic.twitter.com/wBIAxmNis7
— Georg Hekt (@GeorgHekt) June 20, 2018
Other sites, such as publisher USA Today, have taken a different approach by running separate versions of their site for its EU users that is stripped of tracking, offering non-US visitors a speedier experience as the typical array of tracking scripts and ads that slow down web browsing have been removed.
Because of #GDPR, USA Today decided to run a separate version of their website for EU users, which has all the tracking scripts and ads removed. The site seemed very fast, so I did a performance audit. How fast the internet could be without all the junk! ��
5.2MB → 500KB pic.twitter.com/xwSqqsQR3s— Marcel Freinbichler (@fr3ino) May 26, 2018
A number of smaller media outlets including Narcity, Fredericksburg, The Advocate and the Hutchinson Leader are also locking out European readers.
Twitter’s attempts to comply with rules in the GDPR saw users under 13 being locked out of the online services. Whatsapp did the same for users 16 years old.
A blunder caused Twitter to begin locking out people aged under 13 when they set up their account, regardless of how old they are now. It stated earlier this month that it is working to address the problem.
