The Cookie Jar You Can't Get To

Nowadays, it’s almost impossible to browse the internet or visit websites without alerts like these popping up. You invariably always select Accept in order to quickly proceed to an obstructed view of the website.

But what are cookies and why is every website asking you for permissions?

A web cookie (HTTP cookie, browser cookie) is a small piece of data that the server sends to the user’s web browser (Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari etc.)

The browser may store it and send it back to the server with the next request to the same server.
To understand this better, let’s use an example :
Suppose you are surfing the internet on a web browser from your laptop/PC. You visit a website that is originally in a language (ex. French) that you don't understand. So you change the language on the site to one you understand (Ex. English). The website will then save this information in a little document (a cookie), on your computer. The next time you visit the website, it will be able to read the cookie it saved earlier. In that way, the website could remember your preferred language and save you the trouble of changing it manually.

Cookies are used mainly for three purposes :

1. Session Management : Session cookies (transient cookies) are used only when a person is actively navigating a website; once you close the browser, the session cookie disappears. These often enable a site to track the pages that a user has visited during a session of browsing, so that the information can be customized for the user in some way.

2. Personalization : Personalization cookies are used to remember user preferences such as language, theme and other personalization settings. These help add a personal touch to your browsing experience.

3. Tracking : Tracking Cookies are a specific type of cookie that is distributed, shared, and read across two or more unrelated websites for the purpose of gathering information or potentially to present customized data to you. Tracking cookies are not harmful like malware, worms, or viruses, but they can be a privacy concern. As an example, if you go to a Web site that hosts online advertising from a third-party vendor, the third-party vendor can place a cookie on your computer. If another Web site also has advertisements from the same third-party vendor, then that vendor knows you have visited both Web sites. Nothing malicious has occurred, but the advertising company can determine indirectly all the sites you have been to if they have cookies present on those sites.

Do we need to worry about cookies?

Cookies in themselves are harmless. They are just data stored by a website in your browser, and they are not malware. Some of these are necessary while others might be considered a privacy risk. At some point, you may want to remove the cookies from your browser. But before you get rid of all of them, here’s a warning that you may regret doing so. Your favorite sites will forget who you are, and you will have to log in where you normally were automatically accepted.

Most modern browsers offer control over which sites you accept cookies from. You may also decide how long they may be stored and used.

Consult your browser's help files and see.