Web User - UK (2020-01-22)

ImageCAPTCHAs

requireyoutoclick

allthesquares

containinga

specificobject

If you’retiredofsquintingattinypictures

ofroads,tryanaudioCAPTCHAinstead

Cookie notices may protect your privacy

but they also obstruct access to websites

48 22 Jan - 4 Feb 2020

Skip image CAPTCHAs
When you’re trying to sign into a
website, it’s very irritating to have to
prove you’re not a robot by selecting all
the squares containing traffic lights/
cars/bridges/trees/street signs and so
on. These picture-based CAPTCHAs
(which stands for ‘Completely
Automated Public Turing test to tell
Computers and Humans Apart’) are an
increasingly common security measure,
now that artificial intelligence (AI) bots
are able to defeat most text-based ones.
However, the small and indistinct photos
they use can leave you baffled. Is that a
vehicle in the distance or a house? Does
the corner of a sign count as being an
image of one? Ultimately, CAPTCHAs
are there to help Google (which sources
the photos from Street View) improve
its own AI but, for the rest of us, they’re
a tiresome obstruction.
One way to
bypass these
square-selecting
challenges is to
choose an audio
CAPTCHA instead,
by clicking the
headphones
button at the

bottom of the CAPTCHA widget.

Press Play and type the words you hear

• you can keep refreshing if you can’t
  decipher it – then click Verify.
  Alternatively, install the browser
  extension Buster (bit.ly/buster493),
  click its button in the widget and it will
  switch to an audio CAPTCHA and solve
  it for you. Buster is available for
  Chrome, Firefox and Opera.

Hide cookie notices

Since 2011, all websites accessed in the

EU are required to tell their visitors that

they’re using cookies, explain what

those cookies are being used for and

get those visitors’ consent to place

cookies on their devices. Although this

measure tackles privacy concerns,

prevents tracking cookies from being

installed without our permission and

should only appear the first time you

visit a site, the notices can prove

obstructive and annoying, especially on

a phone where they take up the whole

screen. Also, let’s be honest: how often

do you actually read the information in a

cookie warning, rather than just click

Agree or Accept to make it go away?

If you’re tired of being pestered by

these notices and aren’t bothered about

sites installing (mostly) harmless

cookies on your computer, you can use

I Don’t Care About Cookies (bit.ly/

cookies493) to hide them. This excellent

extension for Chrome, Firefox, Opera,

Pale Moon and the new Edge

automatically hides cookie warnings on

almost any site you visit in your desktop

browser. Alternatively, you can add its

Beat online

obstructions

Don’t let annoying pop-

ups and widgets block

your access to websites.

Robert Irvine reveals the

best workarounds for

common web hindrances

and distractions