What exactly are website cookies?
Whenever I open websites, I just accept cookies without knowing what they are. What exactly are those?
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Answers ( 2 )
Cookies are just tiny bits of data (files) which are stored on your computer and they record information about your visit to a website. This is used so that the website can provide various functions which make moving between different pages seem like you didn't just start over each time.
Sadly the EU got their panties in a bunch about privacy and passed a bunch of laws which mean that websites have to make you aware that they are using cookies. As only the most primitive and useless websites can be implemented without cookies this means that pretty much every website you visit is now going to ask you to agree about accepting cookies.
So any possible privacy benefits that the EU thought might be gained are completely lost because no-one in there right mind is going to read through all the legalese on every webpage they click on. So unless you prefer the web to be more or less non-functional you have to keep clicking "accept cookies", whilst cursing the EU as you go, I find that whispering Brexit under my breath relieves the frustration a little.
Have you ever browsed Amazon for a product and then navigated away to another website only to find that you're now getting ads for that exact product or like products? It's like the product is following you around the internet! How about a website "remembering" who you are and what you check out the last time you were there? Well, these things are made possible because of cookies.
A cookie is basically a mechanism for a system to remember something about you. Cookies enable websites to provide a better user experience but also increases the opportunity for them to sell you something by tailoring their ads to exactly what you are looking for. Instead of showing you irrelevant ads, they will now be able to show you only ads that are relevant to you...at least based on your browsing activity. Cookies are generally stored in your browser, which is why if you open up your browser settings, you'll see something along the lines of "Clear your cache" or "Clear cookies". This gets rid of the cookies that websites store in your browser so that they know who you are, what you looked at on their website and other information that is useful for them. For example, if you clear your cookies, then you'll be logged out of websites that keep you logged in over many days and you might start seeing ads that you have no interested in.
Hope this helps.