Websites drop cookies as small data files while users browse the internet in the present digital days. And yes, these cookies can make the website experience friendlier, but they also raise some unpleasant privacy issues. This blog will dive into what cookies are, how these tiny pieces function, and other things you can do to manage and protect your privacy.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files saved on your computer or mobile device when a website visits. They normally hold data regarding a user’s behavior on the site, with details like preferences, login info, and history attached to that site.
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies: These temporary cookies are erased when one exits the browser. Information is kept for actions while proceeding on the same site.
Persistent Cookies: These cookies stick to your device for a long time, like months or even years. It keeps your preference or keeps an eye on how you visit sites over some time.
First-Party Cookies: Cookies created by the site you are currently visiting.
Third-Party Cookies: These cookies are created through a third-party site such as an ad network and have content, such as ads, that is hosted on the site you visit.
How Cookies Work:
When you request any of the pages of a particular website using a web browser, the server sends a cookie via the browser, which stores it in the computer system. Every time you access that website, your web browser sends the cookie to the server, which allows the recognition of a user and their personalizing the use of the website accordingly.
The Cookies Operations By the Website: Enhanced user experience: A cookie can help in remembering your preferences, such as language preference, currency settings, or font-size-selected options. This reduces the time and energy spent going about it and prefills the forms used in some browsing actions. The cookie is created upon request and sent by the server. In turn, your browser stores those data on your device. On each visit to the same site, your browser would send that cookie back to its server, by which time it would have been able to collect sufficient information to know you and personalize the browsing experience according
Targeted Advertising: Cookies work in targeted advertisements. They follow your clicks and try to show ads that may be of interest to you.
Website Analytics: Cookies help website owners track the traffic to their websites, analyze user behavior on those sites, and identify areas for improvement.
Security: Some cookies can be used for security purposes such as monitoring and stopping fraud and ensuring that authorized access users can log into certain accounts only.
Privacy Concerns:
Tracking and surveillance: Advertisements from third-party cookies may track how you go online across so many different websites. They can furnish a considered outline of your interests and habits of use and possible applications of the information being therefore misleading advertising or further invading your privacy through surveillance channels.
Data Breaches: Your personal details stored in the cookies can be compromised if a site or third-party service has a data breach.
Lack of Transparency: A lot of websites do not clearly disclose how they use cookies or offer an adequate measure of autonomy regarding cookie settings.
Managing Cookies:
Browser Settings: You have access to cookie management on most web browsers when you decide to do so. For example:
Block all cookies: No cookies can then be saved on your device by any website. Some functionalities may stop working on certain sites after doing this.
Block third-party cookies: You will not allow third-party cookies while first-party cookies will be accepted.
Clear cookies: All cookies on your device can be removed.
Advice on How to Protect Your Privacy:
VPN Use: A virtual private network encrypts all the internet traffic within it, making it fuzzy for both websites and people outside it to track what you are doing through the internet.
Use a privacy-focused browser: It would also be good for you to use browsers like Brave or Firefox with highly advanced privacy features.
Clear Your Browser Regularly: Clear your browser history, cookies, and cache on a regular basis to reduce tracking.
Following Permitted Website Usage: Some sites ask for permission to access your location or some other sensitive data; consider carefully whether you will allow it.
At this moment, cookies are rampant across all kinds of web pages, but their manipulation raises considerable privacy issues. However, by getting to know how cookies work and managing them properly, one can do quite a lot to protect his privacy while retaining control over his own online experience.
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Writer
Mahfuza Amir Ela
Intern,
Content Writing Department
YSSE.