Would you let Gemini tell you where to go? | The Vergecast

The episode of The Vergecast begins with host David Pierce introducing his new minimalist Android phone, the Side phone, which features interchangeable attachments like a full keyboard, number keys, or an iPod-style click wheel. He expresses excitement for a phone that can serve multiple purposes but focuses on one at a time, allowing users to intentionally choose its function. While still testing its durability and the practicality of interchangeable parts, Pierce sees potential in its minimalist yet useful design. The main topics of the show include a discussion with Kate Klonick, a professor and author, about the pervasive and problematic nature of cookie banners, and an interview with Allison Johnson from The Verge about her experience using "Ask Maps," an AI-powered feature in Google Maps. Kate Klonick joins the show to advocate for the complete removal of cookie banners. She explains that these banners, which prompt users to accept cookies on almost every website, have become a low-grade annoyance that everyone simply "agrees" to without understanding. Klonick's strong stance against them stems from her experience living in Europe, where the banners were even more intrusive, hindering her ability to access simple information like translations or directions. She argues that they are not only irritating but also harmful and ineffective, failing to achieve their intended purpose of informing users about data collection. Klonick delves into the history of cookie banners, tracing their origins back 15 to 25 years to the EU's e-privacy directive. The initial concern arose in the early 2000s with the realization that internet advertising would be a major revenue stream, leading to worries about user tracking via cookies. While cookies are a neutral and necessary technology for the internet's functionality, their ability to track user behavior became immensely valuable for ad technology, raising privacy concerns. The EU, with its different privacy framework compared to the US, passed the e-privacy directive, which mandated the right to refuse data processing but did not specifically mention banners or pop-ups. Klonick explains that the proliferation of cookie banners was largely a result of "regulatory capture," where industry lobbyists and lawyers interpreted the law in a way that ensured compliance without stifling their business models. This led to a standardized, yet ineffective, solution. She clarifies that while GDPR did amplify their presence, cookie banners were already widespread before it, and it's not solely Europe's fault. Klonick asserts that cookie banners are actively harmful because they create a "manufactured consent," giving users a false sense of agency and transparency while allowing tech companies and regulators to avoid addressing the real privacy issues. This compliance regime takes pressure off regulators and removes any incentive for tech companies to innovate new privacy solutions. She believes that removing cookie banners would create a vacuum, forcing a much-needed discussion about new, more sophisticated approaches to privacy regulation and technological solutions. She draws a parallel to terms of service and privacy policies, which users also rarely read, highlighting the broken system of "click-wrap" contracts. Klonick suggests that better solutions could involve middleware or browser-level tools, and a more serious conversation about the harms of non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) data sharing. She floats ideas like compensating users for their data or fostering innovation in privacy protection. Klonick points to Apple's tracking pop-up, which offers a clear "ask app not to track" option, as an example of a more effective approach that has led to a different outcome than cookie banners. The discussion touches on the "Brussels effect," where EU regulations become de facto global policy due to the cost of maintaining different standards for transnational companies. Klonick notes the irony of Europe also experiencing a "California effect," where US tech companies unilaterally dictate design and technology rules for European users. She argues that Europe's pushback, despite its smaller market share, is a legitimate exercise of democratic power to challenge tech dominance and prioritize the end-user. Klonick maintains that cookie banners offer the "worst of all worlds," providing a terrible user experience without offering genuine protection. She is optimistic that the EU's reevaluation of these regulations, especially with the rise of AI, could lead to meaningful change, advocating for simply removing the banners as a first step to foster new solutions. Following the discussion on cookie banners, Allison Johnson talks about "Ask Maps," a new feature in Google Maps that integrates Gemini AI. Johnson describes it as a chatbot within Google Maps that uses AI to plan activities and answer questions based on user reviews, weather data, and other Gemini capabilities. She identifies herself as a "recreational Google Maps user," someone who enjoys exploring and discovering new places rather than just navigating from point A to B. Johnson finds Ask Maps particularly useful for these recreational searches, as it can extrapolate concepts and combine criteria that traditional Google Maps struggles with. For example, she can ask for a coffee shop where she can work, and the AI will consider factors like space, coziness, and opening hours, not just mentions of "laptop" in reviews. Pierce echoes this, stating his frequent search for "breakfast sandwich" and how Ask Maps could provide more nuanced recommendations by summarizing and synthesizing information from reviews. Johnson recounts an experiment where she tasked Ask Maps with planning a "lovely city day" for her, including lunch, a walk, a coffee shop to work, and a strict 4:30 PM return time, all via public transit. While she initially had to guide the AI to suggest new places she hadn't visited, it successfully created a detailed itinerary, including transit directions and time allocations. She appreciated how it connected all the dots for a complicated day, saving her time and helping her break free from her usual routines. However, Johnson notes some limitations, such as the inability to easily export the itinerary to other formats. She also discusses the broader implications of AI in mapping, particularly the trade-off between convenience and privacy. Google Maps already collects vast amounts of location data, and Ask Maps further extends this by leveraging personal history for recommendations. While acknowledging the "creepiness" of AI knowing so much about her and her family, Johnson finds the utility of Ask Maps in filling specific gaps and suggesting novel experiences to be a valuable trade-off. She believes it excels at solving simple, day-to-day problems quickly, rather than curating "the best" experiences, which Google Maps has historically struggled with. The episode concludes with a listener question about the feasibility of a "good e-ink phone" as a way to reduce screen time and distractions. Johnson shares her experience with a TCL phone that had an e-ink-like "Nextpaper" mode, which offered extended battery life and a monochrome display. While she appreciates the concept, she and Pierce agree that e-ink technology, with its slow refresh rates and poor performance for many common phone apps (like scrolling or camera use), makes it unsuitable as a primary smartphone. They suggest that a "switchable" mode, like TCL's, or external devices like "the brick" that add friction to phone use, might be more effective in curbing excessive screen time than a dedicated e-ink phone.