What is a cookie?
A cookie is a harmless text file that is stored in your browser when you visit almost any website. The purpose of a cookie is to allow the website to remember your visit when you return to that site. Although many people are unaware of this, cookies have been in use for 20 years, ever since the first web browsers for the World Wide Web appeared.
What is a cookie NOT?
It is not a virus, a Trojan, a worm, spam, spyware, or something that opens pop-up windows.
What information does a cookie store?
Cookies do not typically store sensitive information about you, such as credit card or bank details, photos, your ID number, or personal information, etc. The data they store is technical in nature, such as personal preferences and content customization, etc.
The web server does not associate you as a person, but rather your web browser. In fact, if you usually browse with Internet Explorer and try browsing the same website with Firefox or Chrome, you’ll see that the website doesn’t recognize you as the same person because it’s actually associating the browser, not the person.
What types of cookies are there?
Technical cookies: These are the most basic cookies and allow, among other things, the website to determine whether a human or an automated application is browsing the site, and whether the user is anonymous or registered—tasks that are essential for the operation of any dynamic website.
Analytics cookies: These collect information about your browsing behavior, the sections you visit most frequently, products you view, the time of day you use the site, your language, etc.
Advertising cookies: These display advertisements based on your browsing behavior, your country of origin, language, etc.
What are first-party and third-party cookies?
First-party cookies are those generated by the website you are visiting, while third-party cookies are those generated by external services or providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.
What happens if I disable cookies?
To help you understand the potential impact of disabling cookies, here are a few examples:
You will not be able to share content from that website on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media platform.
The website will not be able to tailor content to your personal preferences, as is often the case with online stores.
You will not be able to access the personal area of that website, such as “My Account,” “My Profile,” or “My Orders.”
Online stores: You will be unable to make online purchases; you’ll have to place orders by phone or visit the physical store, if one is available.
You won’t be able to customize your geographic preferences, such as time zone, currency, or language.
The website won’t be able to perform web analytics on visitors and website traffic, which will make it harder for the site to remain competitive.
You will not be able to post on the blog, upload photos, publish comments, or rate or review content. The website will also be unable to determine whether you are a human or an automated application posting spam.
Targeted advertising cannot be displayed, which will reduce the website’s advertising revenue.
All social media platforms use cookies; if you disable them, you will not be able to use any social media platforms.
Can cookies be deleted?
Yes. Not only can you delete them, but you can also block them—either generally or specifically for a particular domain.
To delete cookies from a website, go to your browser settings, where you can locate the cookies associated with the domain in question and delete them.
Cookie Settings for the Most Popular Browsers
Here’s how to access a specific cookie in the Chrome browser. Note: These steps may vary depending on your browser version:
Go to Settings or Preferences via the File menu or by clicking the customization icon in the top-right corner.
You’ll see several sections; click the “Show advanced options” option.
Go to Privacy, then Content Settings.
Select “All cookies and site data.”
A list of all cookies sorted by domain will appear. To make it easier to find cookies from a specific domain, enter part or all of the address in the “Search for cookies” field.
After applying this filter, one or more lines containing the cookies from the requested website will appear on the screen. Now simply select the cookie and click the X to delete it.
To access the cookie settings in Internet Explorer, follow these steps (they may vary depending on your browser version:
Go to Tools, Internet Options.
Click Privacy.
Move the slider to set your desired privacy level.
To access the cookie settings in Firefox, follow these steps (they may vary depending on your browser version:
Go to Options or Preferences, depending on your operating system.
Click on Privacy.
Under History, select “Use custom settings for history.”
You will now see the “Accept cookies” option; you can enable or disable it according to your preferences.
To access the cookie settings in the Safari browserfor OS X, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
Go to Preferences, then Privacy.
There you’ll see the “Block Cookies” option, where you can adjust the type of blocking you want to apply.
To access the cookie settings in the Safari browser for iOS, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
Go to Settings, then Safari.
Go to Privacy & Security; you’ll see the “Block Cookies” option, where you can adjust the type of blocking you want to apply.
To access the browser’s cookie settings on Android devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
Open the browser and tap the Menu button, then tap Settings.
Go to Security and Privacy; you’ll see the “Accept Cookies” option, where you can check or uncheck the box.
To access the browser's cookie settings on Windows Phone devices, follow these steps (they may vary depending on the browser version):
Open Internet Explorer, then tap More, then Settings
You can now check or uncheck the “Allow cookies” box.