The small files that are generated and stored on your device are known as Cookies. They are typically named cookie.txt. You can find cookies after visiting the webserver of the website in the browser. The website cookies consist of various variants that accomplish different things. The website that generates cookies can only read it and other web servers are not able to access the information or preferences.
Why Do Websites Use Cookies?
The website use cookies to identify the presence of visitors and for preparing the customized webpages. It also helps to save login information on the website for the owner. You should have noticed then your ordered items were saved on your Amazon page. This is because e-commerce websites use cookies for saving the records in the website such as personal information or items in your shopping cart. This will help to prevent resubmission of the information every time and this is what cookies do.
Is It Bad to Delete Cookies?
No, it is not bad to delete cookies but your browsing experience on the website might impact because preferences such as location, language, etc., are not remembered by the website anymore so you may not able to optimize your visit. You can delete the cookies by using some guides which are mentioned below and organized by the browser:
- Chrome – After opening the Chrome browser on your desktop, click on the Settings option present on the top right side. Select the option Privacy and Security and click on Cookies and other site data. Click on view all cookies and site data and then tap delete all. Confirm after clicking Clear All.
- Firefox – Click on the padlock sign present in the URL bar and tap the option Clear cookies and website data.
- Internet Explorer – Select the option Tools and click on Security. Choose to Delete browsing history and click on Cookies and website data check box. At last tap on Delete.
- Edge – Clear the browsing data that is stored on your device by going in the Settings and more and click on Privacy, Search, and Services. Click on clear browsing data and choose to clear option. Set the time range and click on the Clear Now option.
- Safari (iOS) – To clear cookies in Safari (iOS), go to Settings and click on Clear History and Website Data. Click on clearing safari’s history, cookies, and browser data.
- Safari (macOS) – To delete cookies on the Mac, select the preferences option in the Safari menu. Go to the privacy tab. Select Remove all website data options. At last, tap Remove Now.
Can Cookies Harm your System?
If the system or access will be in the wrong hands, then hackers can abuse cookies. The attacker has the ability to steal active cookies. After doing this, they can perform any action as an administrator-type user and gets permission to perform all work. After a specific inactivity period, most of the online accounts get the log-out users automatically. If you are an administrator or user with sensitive access, then you should log out from the sessions every time and clear all the cookies regularly. It is highly recommended to do a frequent check of your code as a website owner so that the owner can ensure an intrusion and this will not impact the visitors.
Should All Cookies Allow for All the Website that User Visit?
The browsing experience can be improved greatly after allowing cookies in the website and especially that website which you visit often. In the current online landscape, data privacy remains in the spotlight which more websites are requesting consent to use, and mainly since June 2018 when GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into effect.
What is General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?
According to GDPR, cookies and other technical identifies should be treated as personal data by all EU member states. The basic thing is that companies should give knowledge and educate visitors about the plan to use their data on an opt-in basis. To avoid stiff GDPR penalties, the cookies consent banner starts showing up on every website. For those who are unfamiliar, the penalties can be as much as 4% of one’s global annual revenue. So the website owner must know and familiar with the cookies consent banners.
Advantages of Cookies
There are various benefits of cookies:
- Online shopping experience – Every e-commerce website gives you the option to add items to your cart. You can select the items from the shopping list, add that item to your cart, leave the page, return to the resume shopping page, and then again start shopping.
- Form submissions – The submitted information can be remembered by the cookies in the form of names and other fields. When you enter a live chat with your hosting provider then the saved cookies can save valuable time of yours.
- Personalization – The language and currency preferences can be stored by the cookies.
- Suggested Content – When you visit the shopping sites then you find a ‘related searches’ feature which is referred to as suggested content by the site. It relies on the collected data by the cookies which will cross-reference your profile with other users who have a similar profile and then provide you recommendations.
- Security Authentication – Security authentication helps to allow web servers to know whether the user is logged in or not after entering the session. The websites will never remember your logged-in information if you don’t allow cookies.
Disadvantages of Cookies
There are some cons of cookies:
- Privacy – Several browsers accept the cookies by default. Due to this, invisibly cookies get stored on your local device each time when you browse the internet. As a result, the browsing history and IP address of your data become public.
- Local Storage – The actual files that are stored on your hard drives is in the form of these little website cookies. The more you visit the website, the more cookies will be stored. Some storage space of your desktop or mobile device gets filled due to these cookies.
- Unauthorized Data Collection – There are various websites that collect your information in the form of cookies and sell it to third parties which can use it for hacking your social media networks or other online accounts.
