MathWorks website asks me which country I am in.

Every time I go the MathWorks website, there is a popup that asks me which country I am in. The popup that asks me if I'm in the USA always pops up twice.

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

You are blocking the cookie that it uses to remember where you are.

[Stephen23]

Actually I get the "localization-dialog popping up twice thing" at work, and it did only start a few months ago. Even if it is caused by a blocked cookie: so what? Is a modern CPU not powerful enough to figure that out?

[Jan]

@Stephen (is this you message or did you just edited it?): The CPU is not the problem, but the browser. Firefox is not written in Matlab, unfortunately. Otherwise the new DWIM command of R2017a would recognize this soon.

The new iPads get a laser scanner for a face recognition. Then frowning will surely be enough to instruct the browser to adjust its behavior accordingly. But even here this is not a question of the CPU, because the facial expression is not processed locally, but by a live stream to the Apple servers.

Sorry for the product placement. I get a free cookie for free from their servers.

[Walter Roberson]

https://www.infopackets.com/news/10037/report-you-can-be-tracked-online-even-without-ip-or-cookies

"Researchers have found a way to track web users even if they switch web browsers. It could improve security but also weaken online privacy.

The researchers at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania were trying to find ways of improving fingerprinting. That's a way to attempt to identify an individual user (or at least their computer) without relying on single identifiers such as login details, browser cookies, or an IP address."

I would really prefer Mathworks did not deploy "fingerprinting" technology to serve the niche market of people who block cookies for "privacy" but still expect that everything will Just Work.

I use multiple cookie blockers and anti-tracking programs, but I also know that means that some things will not work properly on sites.

Answer 2

[John Kelly]

Perhaps your browser settings have cookies blocked

Or you are going to a domain that doesn’t match your cookie or your location. MathWorks does an IP detection to figure out where you are located. If your location matches the sub domain you’re requesting, MathWorks won’t be prompting you to confirm your location. If it doesn’t match, MathWorks will prompt you to confirm the sub domain of your preference.

If your cookies are enabled and you use the same browser, you won’t be prompted if you go to the subdomain you selected.

Answer 3

[Jan]

Relax.

I do not have such problems with the same Win7/64 + Firefox 51.0.1 for the standard access of any Mathworks pages. But when I open this link:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/termsofuse.html?requestedDomain=www.mathworks.com#answers

I'm asked for choosing my country each time, but at least not twice. This does not happen with this link:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/termsofuse.html

This means, that beside blocked cookies the link you select might matter also. What exactly does "accessing the site" mean?