Opera for Android may block cookie dialogues in latest version

Martin Brinkmann
Nov 6, 2018
Updated • Nov 6, 2018
Opera
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Opera Software published a new version of the company's Opera web browser for Android today. The new version of the mobile browser includes an option to block cookie dialogues that websites display automatically.

Internet users are exposed to cookie and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) notifications regularly. Most sites reveal to users that they do use cookies and collect certain data, and give users options to accept or decline privacy policies.

Designed to improve user rights on the Internet, the system changed the user experience significantly. Users are bombarded with cookie dialogues that take over part of the screen or even the entire screen until the user interacts with the dialogue.

Browser extensions and filter lists were created to block or bypass cookie notices automatically. These removed the notices from the screen automatically to automate the step for users who installed these in browsers.

opera android cookie dialogue

Opera for Android includes an ad-blocking component. It blocks advertisement on the Internet to speed up the page loading time of sites, reduce bandwidth costs, and eliminate tracking and other unwanted effects of advertisement.

The latest version of the mobile browser includes a new option to deal with cookie dialogues automatically. Opera Software added it to the browser's ad-blocking component. The option is disabled by default and needs to be activated even if ad-blocking is enabled. Here is how that is done:

  1. Open the Opera web browser on the Android device. Make sure that it is up to date. Note that it may take some time before new versions are pushed to user devices (staged roll out).
  2. Select Opera > Settings.
  3. Select Ad blocking on the Settings page to manage the functionality.
  4. Enable Ad blocking if you have not already.
  5. Toggle "Block cookie dialogs" to enable cookie blocking.

Opera attempts to block cookie and privacy dialogues that sites display when you access them automatically from that point forward. You may enable "automatically accept cookie dialogs" on the page to accept these dialogues automatically instead of blocking them.

Some sites may not work properly if you don't accept cookie or privacy notifications.

Opera's implementation blocks or accepts cookie and privacy notifications in the browser but it does not interfere with a site's ability to save cookies to the user system.

The cookie notification blocker uses a "combination of CSS rules and JavaScript heuristics" according to Opera. The company tested the implementation on 15,000 websites and promises that the number will increase in the future.

Closing Words

Most Internet users find cookie and privacy dialogues annoying as it impacts the user experience on the Internet. Demand for solutions to address the issue directly, e.g. by blocking them, exists and Opera added another solution to the growing list of tools that users may use to deal with it.

Now You:How do you handle cookie and privacy dialogues?

Summary
Opera for Android may block cookie dialogues in latest version
Article Name
Opera for Android may block cookie dialogues in latest version
Description
Opera for Android includes an option to block cookie dialogues that websites display automatically in a new version released today.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Pierre said on November 9, 2018 at 8:20 am
    Reply

    Hello
    For Adblock, Adblock Plus, uBlock Origin
    There is a list here
    https://adblockplus.org/fr/subscriptions
    ‘I don’t care about cooklies’
    https://www.i-dont-care-about-cookies.eu/
    Nice Opera has add it to their own adblocker in the Android version
    When will they add it to the desktop version ?

  2. John Fenderson said on November 6, 2018 at 6:01 pm
    Reply

    “How do you handle cookie and privacy dialogues?”

    I pretty much ignore them. Those dialogues don’t really bug me (and I usually don’t interact with them unless they get in my way). I disallow third-party cookies and periodically go through and delete the ones that aren’t being used to hold my preferences, but aside from that, I do nothing.

  3. user17843 said on November 6, 2018 at 2:49 pm
    Reply

    Awesome.

    Here’s more background info: http://www.operasoftware.com/press/releases/mobile/2018-11-06

  4. Anonymous said on November 6, 2018 at 11:40 am
    Reply

    “How do you handle cookie and privacy dialogues?”

    In ublock origin, check

    uBlock filters – Annoyances
    Fanboy’s Annoyance List
    Adguard’s Annoyance List

    Fanboy’s Cookiemonster List is already contained in Fanboy’s Annoyance List.

    1. Karl O. said on November 6, 2018 at 4:32 pm
      Reply

      For me these lists render many sites unusable and even whitelisting some DOM elements won’t always help. For example https://de.tommy.com
      Therefore I’ve created my own cookie notice block list.

    2. John G. said on November 6, 2018 at 3:17 pm
      Reply

      Opera Mini for Android does not need uBlock origin nor any other extension to save privacy or to save some no useful data like ads, images, video advertising and so forth. IMHO Opera Mini is by now the most powerful data saver and privacy saver of all Android browsers. A big must have.

      1. Weilan said on November 6, 2018 at 6:42 pm
        Reply

        @John G. Opera Mini is good if you want to browse wesbites and just focus on reading text, looking at pictures and maybe posting comments.

        You can’t use the browser to watch videos or anything, many streaming websites also block Mini browsers.

        So Opera Mini is like the thing you use in very rare cases, it can never be a daily usage browser.

      2. John G. said on November 6, 2018 at 7:07 pm
        Reply

        I save more than 200 Mb daily on my metered ISP service using Opera Mini, mostly for reading newspapers and international news sites. When I am on free WiFi I use Chrome, so you are right, OMini is good for the couple of things it has been made. The last week I saved up to 1.6 Gb data (considering OMini information). Every single cent contributes to make one euro.

    3. Weilan said on November 6, 2018 at 2:34 pm
      Reply

      Except the only Android browser that supports uBlock Origin is Firefox and Firefox is painfully slow, therefore useless.

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