cookiesfor

cookiesfor is a term used in discussions of web cookies and user consent to describe a hypothetical approach to managing cookies via a standardized interface that emphasizes user choice and privacy. It is not among established standards and has not been adopted as an official specification.

Origin and usage: The term has appeared in online forums, technical articles, and privacy discussions since the 2010s and 2020s as part of debates about cookie consent frameworks. There is no single governing body or formal standard for cookiesfor, and interpretations of its meaning vary among contributors.

Concept and scope: cookiesfor envisions a consistent API for creating, retrieving, and deleting cookies, with explicit consent prompts and policy-based defaults. Proponents argue it could reduce fragmentation across browsers and sites, while critics point to practical challenges in retrofitting legacy code, performance concerns, and ensuring true cross-site privacy.

Design and features: In a cookiesfor model, cookies would be categorized by purpose, with per-domain policy granularity and user-specified retention. Implementing such a system would likely require browser support or robust polyfills and would interact with existing privacy regulations, including GDPR and CCPA. The approach emphasizes transparency, granular consent, and easier user control over data practices.

Reception and status: As of now, cookiesfor remains a conceptual or exploratory term rather than a deployed standard. It is used primarily in discussions about best practices for consent, transparency, and user control, rather than in official browser specifications or widely adopted frameworks.