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If just for the fact that it annoys people I love the mouse cursor idea. But I also find it technically interesting. Is some kind of consent legally needed per GDPR or something for this? I for sure is tracking, literally. And a website has to ask to set cookies ...

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Cookie consent is only necessary if you're sharing it with others (eg. ad networks, Google Analytics, etc.) or using it for "non-essential" functions (again, stuff like analytics). Sites just don't want the general public to realize that.

As for the mouse cursors, I don't think they qualify as personal information under the GDPR, but IANAL.

It's needed when you collect the data. Cursor position is being used directly to make the service "function" though. Even if the function it enables is pretty novel. This is entirely debatable, and probably matters less than showing were your cursor is in a google doc.

Regardless, I don't think it matters since the author is not in the EU.

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