The cookie stuff was separate to the GDPR wasn't it? Pretty sure it came in before.

It was soon after. It's a requirement of GDPR to get permission for certain kinds of cookies, and seemingly every website either falls under non-exempt or can't afford to prove they're exempt.

	▲	kalleboo 10 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The original ePrivacy Directive that created the cookie banners is from 2003, and EU users have been seeing cookie banners since then https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPrivacy_Directive#Cookies The GDPR is what really gave it enforcement teeth though and that's when it really exploded and made the banners more intrusive and adopted by non-EU-native websites that weren't based in but still did business inside the EU.