As long as it's about cookies, the law is nonsense. Asking laypeople to "opt-in to tracking" so they can log into a website would render most websites inoperable.

> They’re separate laws but with the same practical enforcement / incentive problems.

I disagree with this. The cookie law popups pretend to ask users whether they consent to being tracked or not. Which is entirely misleading. With GDPR the pressure is on the companies to disclose what data they are collecting on you and give you the option of deleting it.

> Both have more user-friendly requirements than people expect, both are widely violated in user-hostile ways, both are rarely enforced by regulators, and what rare enforcement does exist is slow, often reluctant, and with inadequate fines to change industry behavior.

If I understand you correctly, you're saying the main downside to GDPR is it's not properly enforced. I agree with that.