Should All Websites Ditch the Cookie Jar? Rethinking Privacy in a Tracking-Obsessed World

One of the things I love about segmentor.app is its incredible value in analysing CX data and enabling you to actually do something with it. The image below shows this:

• No cookies
• No cloud
• No registration.

In fact, they go further with other features, including accessible design.

There are no intrusive pop-ups begging for consent and no hidden trackers — just a straightforward promise of privacy and a clean experience.

This is in striking contrast to the world we live in today, where we can't even read a simple news article without being bombarded with banners demanding that we "accept all" cookies or face a degraded site. Why is this the exception rather than the rule?

There's no pop-up nagging me to 'Accept All' just to see the page. No sneaky data grabs. Just a plain promise: we won't track you, we won't collect your behaviour data and we won't share anything with third parties. A simple HTTPS site is run locally, and it is WCAG 2.2 AA compliant for proper accessibility and full anonymity. It feels clean and honest. Is it too naïve to think that the internet should look more like this?

Source: segmentor.app/about

The Name Game: Cookies Sound Friendly, Trackers Sound Creepy

I remember Sam Jones, founder of Gener8, who absolutely nailed it on BBC's Dragons' Den back in 2021¹. His pitch was hailed as one of the best ever, leaving Touker Suleyman, among others, practically speechless. Sam summed it up perfectly: 'It's one of the best tricks in marketing. "Cookie" means "tracker".'¹ The word 'cookie' sounds friendly, like something nice to have with your tea, but its real purpose is usually to track you. 'Cookie' is deliberately soft and cuddly, masking the fact that they are essentially trackers that follow you across the web and build profiles for targeted advertising. As Sam Jones said, 'If it really said "allow us to drop a tracker", you would say no'.

Sam's point hits the nail on the head. People accept 'cookies' without a second thought, but if sites were more transparent and called them 'trackers', people probably wouldn't accept them. This brilliant bit of linguistic sleight of hand has helped the whole industry to thrive on our data.

Why Do Websites Still Cling to This?

We can accept essential cookies for things like logging in or adding items to a shopping basket, provided they are used properly. Fair enough. But what about the endless third-party trackers for ads, analytics and retargeting? Many sites could drop them tomorrow and still function perfectly. Companies cling on to them because data equals money — targeted ads pay better and insights fuel everything from personalisation to sales.

However, with rising privacy awareness, the introduction of the GDPR and the use of tools such as ad blockers and VPNs, this approach is backfiring. Users disable trackers, sites force them to turn off protections (creating security risks), and trust erodes. It's a vicious CX cycle: the more data companies want, the more friction there is, leading to more bounces and less loyalty.

This ties right into something I wrote about previously, namely how cookie consents have become a nightmare for customer experience. You can read my previous article on the subject here: The Digital Privacy Paradox: How Cookie Consent Became a Nightmare for Customer Experience. I explore consent fatigue and dark patterns in more depth, and explain why treating privacy as an afterthought is damaging trust.

Nowadays, people are increasingly conscious of their privacy, and the use of ad blockers and VPNs has increased. A Forbes Advisor poll carried out in June 2025 showed that nearly half (49%) of respondents used a VPN². However, the same study found that 88% of Brits had experienced VPN performance issues. This confirms that websites often stop working with these privacy-first tools that people have chosen to use for privacy and security reasons. In fact, users are forced to sacrifice their privacy and security just to read the newspapers. Wow! How is this normal?

The Critical Question Every Company Should Ask

Here's a reality check for you: it's a brutally simple test.

Open your company website in incognito mode and check whether you are prompted to accept cookies just to read the homepage. If you do, don't you wonder why? Is there any good reason for it?

Then try it with an ad blocker enabled. Does the site load properly, or does it break or block you?

Now access the site via a VPN. Do you get the full experience, or are you forced to turn the VPN off?

Then ask yourself this: Do we actually need to track our visitors like this? Do our visitors need to sacrifice their security and their beliefs about privacy just to visit our corporate website?

It's a tough question to ask, but if the answer is "yes, we need it all", it might be time to rethink our priorities.

The Bottom Line: Privacy Should Be the Default, Not the Opt-Out

We sort of accept that not every site needs to be completely cookie-free, but even if cookies are necessary for logins and charts, is this the best technology available? Are we doomed to accept that privacy and security are incompatible with returning to the shopping basket as it were when we left it?

The default should arguably be a minimal, transparent and user-first approach to these essential trackers. I prefer websites where privacy badges like the ones I found are commonplace: no banners, no tricks, just secure, accessible and respectful experiences. This approach builds real trust, reduces friction and appeals to the growing number of people who care about their digital footprint. I think that's how you should treat your customers, don't you agree?

If you run a website, conduct a quick audit: Are those trackers essential? Or are they just a habit? Adopting a privacy-by-design approach could be your greatest customer experience win yet — no discounts required, just respect.

Privacy shouldn't be a luxury — it should be standard practice, and your customers will surely appreciate that.

References

¹ Sam Jones on TikTok - Dragons' Den pitch about cookies

² Forbes Advisor - VPN Statistics