What is a ‘cookie’?

[sreelavanya]

What is a 'cookie'?

A 'cookie' is a type of virtual 'bookmark'. Every time a visitor clicks through to an advertiser's website from one of publihser's links, a 'cookie' is dropped onto the user's machine. If the user eventually arrives at the order confirmation page (or action page) this cookie is read and the sale is attributed to the publisher who's link was clicked.

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[Vineet]

I am sharing you a video and in my view it is the best explanation about cookie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TBR-xtJVq7E#!

[roger_davis]

In the context of online advertising, cookies are often used to track user behavior and attribute sales or actions to specific publishers or advertisers.

In addition to tracking sales and attributing them to specific publishers or advertisers, cookies have various other purposes. Here are a few:

1. Session management: Cookies can be used to manage user sessions, allowing websites to remember information about a user as they navigate through different pages. This helps maintain login sessions, shopping carts, and other personalized features.

2. Personalization: Cookies enable websites to remember user preferences such as language settings, font sizes, color themes, and other customization options for a more tailored browsing experience.

3. Analytics and site improvement: Cookies can be used to gather data on website usage, such as the number of visitors, popular pages, and how users interact with the site. This information is valuable for optimizing the website's design, content, and performance.

4. Targeted advertising: Advertisers can use cookies to track users' online behavior and interests. This data helps deliver more relevant and targeted advertisements to users based on their browsing habits.


5. Third-party cookies: In addition to first-party cookies set by the website you are visiting, there are also third-party cookies set by other domains. These cookies are often used for tracking and advertising purposes by third-party services embedded on websites, such as social media plugins or advertising networks.

6. Persistent vs. session cookies: Cookies can be either persistent or session-based. Persistent cookies remain stored on a user's computer even after they close their browser, while session cookies are temporary and are deleted once the browser is closed.

7. Security considerations: While cookies themselves are generally harmless, they can pose security risks if they are exploited for malicious purposes. For example, cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks can be facilitated through cookies, where attackers inject malicious scripts into websites to steal user data.

8. Cookie consent and privacy regulations: Given the potential privacy implications of cookies, many jurisdictions have introduced regulations to protect user privacy. Websites are often required to obtain user consent before setting certain types of cookies and provide transparent information about their cookie usage.

9. Opting out or managing cookies: Users have the option to manage or disable cookies through their web browser settings. This can include blocking all cookies, accepting only certain types of cookies, or clearing existing cookies.

10. Evolving technologies: As technology evolves, alternatives to traditional cookies are being developed. For example, browser fingerprinting techniques can be used to track users without relying on cookies. Additionally, privacy-focused browsers and tools have emerged that aim to enhance user control over cookie tracking.

11. First-party cookies: These are cookies set by the website you are directly visiting. They are typically used for essential functions like maintaining user sessions, remembering user preferences, and providing personalized content.

12. Cookie expiration: Each cookie has an expiration date or duration set by the website. Once the expiration time is reached, the cookie is automatically deleted from the user's browser. This can range from a few minutes to several years, depending on the purpose of the cookie.

13. SameSite attribute: The SameSite attribute is used to specify how cookies should be handled in cross-site requests. By setting this attribute, websites can protect users from certain types of cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks.

14. Cookie tracking across multiple devices: Cookies are typically tied to a specific device and browser. However, with the increasing use of multiple devices, such as smartphones and tablets, there are techniques to track users across different devices using identifiers like email addresses or unique user IDs.

15. Privacy-enhancing technologies: In response to privacy concerns, various privacy-enhancing technologies have emerged. For example, the use of encrypted cookies or pseudonymous identifiers can help protect user data while still allowing for some level of personalization and analytics.

16. Cookie banners and consent management platforms (CMPs): Many websites display cookie banners or pop-ups to inform users about their cookie usage and ask for consent. Consent management platforms provide tools for website owners to manage and track user consent for cookies.

17. Browser settings: Users have control over their cookie settings in their web browsers. They can choose to block all cookies, block third-party cookies, or configure specific preferences for cookie acceptance and retention.

[Cathrine]

             Cookies are usually small text files,given ID tags that are stored on your computer's browser directory or program data sub holders.Cookies are created when use your browser to visit a website that uses cookies to keep track of your movements within the site,help you resume where you left off,remember your registered login,theme selection,preferences,and other customization functions.

[vinacle]

Cookies are small files which are stored on a user's computer. They are designed to hold a modest amount of data specific to a particular client and website, and can be accessed either by the web server or the client computer.
Cookies can help a website to arrange content to match your preferred interests more quickly. Most major websites use cookies. Cookies cannot be used by themselves to identify you

[owen100]

A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on your computer's hard disk so that the website can remember who you are.  Cookies can help a website to arrange content to match your preferred interests more quickly - most major websites use cookies. Cookies alone cannot be used to identify you.

[yumraj]

A message given to a web browser by a web server. The browser stores the message in a text file. The message  is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

[Megan Brown]

A cookie are small text files that keep a track of a user's movements when they visit any website and these text files gets saved in user's browser while visiting any website.

[heris charles]

Cookies are usually small text files, given ID tags that are stored on your computer's browser directory or program data subfolders. Cookies are created when you use your browser to visit a website that uses cookies to keep track of your movements within the site, help you resume where you left off, remember your registered login, theme selection, preferences, and other customization functions.

[davidfleming]

Cookies are small files which are stored on a user's computer. They are developed to hold a modest amount of data specific to a particular client and website, and may be accessed either by the web server or the client computer.