How to stop Gravatar setting cookies

Question

I am using the Gravatar service on my website. However there is a problem: it sets two cookies, gravatar and __qca, which cause users with 3rd party cookies blocked to see a warning that the site tried to set 3rd party cookies. I don't want this to happen.

The cookies themselves are obviously useless - Gravatar works fine if I block them. They are likely for tracking purposes, which is another reason to block them.

My questions to Gravatar have not been answered.

So how can I stop Gravatar setting cookies?

Answer 1

After my second email I got this response:

Hey,

Thanks for contacting us. We're currently looking into the reason why these cookies are set and checking to see if we can remove them without any repercussions. I'll let you know as soon as we've got an answer for you!

Best,

Phil WordPress.com | Automattic Inc.

I'll update this if they contact me again.

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EDIT: I haven't got another email from them, but it looks like those cookies no longer are set in Gravatar image requests. Thanks Gravatar!

Answer 2

GDPR wants me to communicate every possible privacy risk (that includes cookies).

My conclusion: I am not going to use avatar any more.