88V8 wrote:
So, why does internet tracking matter? I mean, really matter?
One direct effect I notice is every couple of months my browser stops working when logging into the bank, and also a few other sites here and there. I get an obscure and misleading message about it not being a safe site and I am to retire to a place of safety, or something along those lines. On researching this it turns out the cause is having too many cookies in my browser, and clearing them out fixes it.
When I check there are many hundreds of cookies if not thousands, all put there by sites I've visited. The trouble is that by deleting them I then have to re-enter the password for sites I use regularly e.g. TLF.
Like you I just used to accept all the pop-ups demanding I agree to them placing cookies but my cookie jar seemed to fill up and need clearing out ever more frequently so now I refuse them. Easiest way is the click the back button out of the site, then right-click the link and select "Open in incognito window". Then agree to the placing of cookies which all disappear again when you close the incognito window.
I still find cookies leak through into the 'normal' browser but I'm back to needing to clear them out every few months again, instead of once a fortnight.