All this "do you agree to this and that" nonsense could be avoided by "inversion of control": instead of sites asking users whether they agree to this 100 page document, websites should be legally bound to listen and honor directives that users give about the data the sites gather.
For example, for cookies, legally force, with the cookie (with a standard protocol), transmit of "intent", like cross-site tracking, whether it is used for advertisement or something else, whether it may be shared with third parties, etc. Then the browser would simply not accept cookies with intent the surfer disagrees with.
Another possibility is, that the browser could, in a standard header, with a bunch of standardized flags, tell what the site may or may not do with the data they gather about the surfer.
For example, for cookies, legally force, with the cookie (with a standard protocol), transmit of "intent", like cross-site tracking, whether it is used for advertisement or something else, whether it may be shared with third parties, etc. Then the browser would simply not accept cookies with intent the surfer disagrees with.
Another possibility is, that the browser could, in a standard header, with a bunch of standardized flags, tell what the site may or may not do with the data they gather about the surfer.