In an unprecedented move, GitHub has announced that it would stop using all cookies not necessary for the website’s functioning. It has become common for even the supposedly privacy-friendly websites to use additional web cookies for tracking, analytics, and more.
GitHub says NO to annoying cookies
The code repository platform assures its users that they won’t be seeing the annoying cookie banners on GitHub anymore. The company says it has decided to remove all the cookies to respect users’ privacy. The removal of non-essential cookies would also mean that the site won’t send any tracking-based analytics information to third-party entities.
GitHub has stated how cookie banners have become standard across the web. They have explained why the EU law for privacy now asks websites to show a banner whenever it uses cookies not necessary for its functioning.
Since GitHub cannot be exempted from the law, the platform decided to remove non-essential cookies all at once. The company also assures users that it won’t be using any cookies for advertisement or tracking users on an external website. It is indeed a bold decision from a user privacy standpoint.
The code repository also adds that removing non-essential cookies would not impact the website’s overall user experience. Instead, it would be using web cookies that are essential for a smooth website experience. GitHub also says that it would be extending the protection of the said EU privacy law to every user, regardless of where they are from.
“We are also committing that going forward, we will only use cookies that are required for us to serve GitHub.com. GitHub has had a long history of prioritizing developer privacy, often going above and beyond any legal requirement, including extending EU privacy protections to all users regardless of location. Developers should not have to sacrifice their privacy to collaborate on GitHub,” GitHub said.
Considering that tracking cookies on websites for continuous advertising and digital fingerprinting has become quite controversial, GitHub’s move seems to make a difference. However, it won’t be easy for all other websites to follow this route.
It happens because smaller websites and web apps have not much control over how the ad networks employ web cookies through their websites. Most site owners end up agreeing with the EULA and other agreements when they sign up for an ad network.
Given that tracking cookies allow ad networks to drive traffic that can convert, these networks will not stop using cookies anytime soon, either.
Read: How to delete Browsing History, Cookies, Data, Cache in Edge browser.
