I run a few small websites/apps that deliberately avoid tracking technologies. They only use first-party session cookies and minimal server logs for operational purposes.
Interestingly, I’ve noticed that some users find this suspicious because there is no cookie banner... People may have become so used to seeing them that a site without one can look dubious or unprofessional. And some maintainers probably include them just to conform with common practice, or due to legal uncertainty.
So I’m wondering whether a simple, community-driven, public declaration could help. Something like a "No-Tracking Web Declaration". It could be a short document describing fair practices that websites could reference, for example:
- only first-party session cookies
- server logs used only for operational purposes
- etc.
A website could then display a small statement such as "This site follows the No-Tracking Web Declaration v1.0". This might help legitimate the approach, and give visitors and operators confidence that avoiding a cookie banner is actually compliant with applicable regulations.
I’m curious what the HN community thinks:
- Would something like this actually be useful?
- Does anything similar already exist that I might have missed?
And I’d love feedback from developers or maintainers who actually run minimal or privacy-respecting websites.
Interestingly, I’ve noticed that some users find this suspicious because there is no cookie banner... People may have become so used to seeing them that a site without one can look dubious or unprofessional. And some maintainers probably include them just to conform with common practice, or due to legal uncertainty.
So I’m wondering whether a simple, community-driven, public declaration could help. Something like a "No-Tracking Web Declaration". It could be a short document describing fair practices that websites could reference, for example:
- only first-party session cookies - server logs used only for operational purposes - etc.
A website could then display a small statement such as "This site follows the No-Tracking Web Declaration v1.0". This might help legitimate the approach, and give visitors and operators confidence that avoiding a cookie banner is actually compliant with applicable regulations.
I’m curious what the HN community thinks:
- Would something like this actually be useful? - Does anything similar already exist that I might have missed?
And I’d love feedback from developers or maintainers who actually run minimal or privacy-respecting websites.