What You Need to Know About Internet Cookies

When you open a website or page on the internet, a pop-up message often appears asking you to allow cookies. But what are cookies and why should you care? In this blog, we’ll explain what cookies are, what they do, and whether or not you should accept them. By the end of this article, you will have all the information you need to make an informed decision about cookies.

What Are Internet Cookies and What Do They Do?

When you visit a website, it creates files called cookies that can enhance your online experience. Cookies can help save your passwords, provide you with locally relevant information, and remember items you’ve added to your cart. Some of the tasks that cookies can perform include:

Cookies can be defined as files that are created by websites you visit that ideally make your online experience easier. For example, sites can keep your passwords saved for future use, give you locally relevant information, save items you’ve added to your cart, and more. A few cookie purposes include:

• Auto-filling information, such as credit card details or login credentials.
• Recommending personalized content, like articles or products that you may be interested in.
• Displaying targeted ads that are more relevant to you, increasing the likelihood that you will click on them.

• Remembering your preferences, such as your preferred language.

Types of Computer Cookies

It’s important to know about two types of computer cookies. First-party cookies are created by the website you visit and are intended to enhance your experience on the site by storing relevant information. These types of cookies are usually safe as long as the website is authentic and trustworthy. The second type of cookies are third-party cookies, whose main purpose is to track your online activity for advertising purposes. They are not directly related to the websites you visit and can be embedded in ads, videos, web banners, social media buttons, and other elements. 

Should I Accept Cookies on the Internet?

As mentioned earlier, first-party internet cookies are created to improve the user experience and are generally safe to accept. However, cookie poisoning or session hijacking is a type of cyber attack where a cookie can be manipulated to gain unauthorized access to a user’s account. This not only provides the attacker with access to sensitive user data stored in the cookie but also allows them to steal the user’s identity. 

On the other hand, third-party cookies are not necessarily harmful but they do collect information about your interests and online behavior based on your internet history. This information can be sold to advertisers, which is a violation of your digital privacy. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the dangers of cookies and make informed decisions when accepting them.

Learn More About Cooking Tracking With Raze Media

Cookie tracking and compliance rules in the US plays a big role in website development. As a digital marketing agency, it is beneficial for us to implement tracking for our website and our clients to learn about customer and user behaviors. If you are interested in learning more about what we do, you can visit our website or contact us today!