What are cookies?
You’ve heard a website uses cookies. But what does that mean?
Watch the following video to learn more about cookies:
A cookie is simply a technology for remembering something about you.
Without cookies, a website is like a goldfish who loses its memory every time you visit a new page. Once you visit a new page, it doesnât remember who you are.
Now this can be a good and a bad thing. Without any memory, a website canât do a lot of stuff. It canât let you log in, because it forgets who you are. It canât let you buy anything, because it forgets what youâre buying.
But it also means it canât track you. Some websites use cookies to remember what you do on their website, and to target ads at you. And some of those websites share their cookies, so that ads on one website know what you liked on another. This has scared a lot of people.
Cookies arenât automatically good or bad, but itâs worth understanding what you can do about them.
You can turn them off completely, which is a bit like banning all music to prevent another Justin Bieber album. Many websites simply wonât work.
A better option would be to turn off 3rd party cookies, which will stop most websites from sharing information about you. Some browsers â like Safari â do this automatically.
And finally, you can take a deeper look into any websites which concern you. Most websites have policies that explain what they do, if you care to look.
Well over 90% of websites use cookies. Cookies arenât automatically good or bad, but itâs worth understanding what you can do about them.
How to control and disable cookies
Learn how to control and disable the cookies you donât want.