Five worthy reads is a regular column on five noteworthy items we’ve discovered while researching trending and timeless topics. This week we explore website cookies, their role in managing user identity and behavior, and the key ingredients to a safe cookie policy.
There’s no worse way to enter a website than to be met with a cookie consent encounter.
But how many of us click “Accept All” without much thought, just to rid ourselves of the interruption?
Imagine this: The moments after you land on a website to purchase indoor plants, you begin to get back-to-back advertisements for indoor plants on your social media feeds. As mesmerized as you are by the advancements in internet advertising, you might question what happened to your privacy and when along the way did you release it? The answer is when you consented to the use of cookies.
Website cookies have a significant role in storing browser activity and user behavior in order to deliver customized and targeted advertisements. The first-ever cookies date back to 1994 and were invented by Lou Montulli, a 23-year-old engineer at Netscape. Montulli wanted to sustain a user session by utilizing pieces of information that could pass between webpages and create a memory of the user’s browsing preferences. Cookies have been a part of the internet ever since.
The threat to user privacy started when third parties got hold of cookies, using them to track user data and behavioral patterns across the web. Today, third-party cookies are accessed by advertisers, online marketers, and even malicious actors when proper security protocols are lacking.
But should we believe all of this starts and ends with our choice to click Accept all? Do websites and their cookie settings really value our user experience and privacy, or should we be wary?
To help you learn more, here are five worthy reads about website cookies:
1. How internet cookies work
Cookies are small chunks of data on a user’s web activity retained by the web server. From tracking down how much time a user spends on a website and remembering login information to scrutinizing even the scrolling speed and mouse hover activity, cookies take the utmost care for personalization. Almost every website puts a cookie with a unique identification code onto the web server. This tracks the session and piles up targeted information on the users, enabling better suggestions and advertisements based on their activity. Learn more from this primer on website cookies.
2. 7 Types of Internet Cookies and Their Alternatives Explained
Internet cookies come in many types. Based on user and website owner preferences, cookies can be classified as essential and non-essential. This resource dives into seven types of internet cookies and outlines their core functions and benefits. While third-party cookies may pose a threat to user privacy, certain cookies are necessary for users to access some websites efficiently and for other beneficial reasons.
3. ePrivacy Directive and GDPR impact cookie law
The ePrivacy Directive, popularly known as the Cookie Law, is a privacy initiative by the European Union. The law emphasizes the importance of regulating the collecting of personal information by putting up cookie consent banners with the option to adjust preferences, customize settings, or reject cookies altogether. This resource explains the critical compliance requirements for any website that targets EU and UK residents to meet regulations laid down by the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive.
4. Stolen Session Cookies: The Next Big Cyber Threat
Attackers are always out to intercept user data in the simplest ways possible. Cookie poisoning, a collective term citing different types of cookie attacks, uses cookie technology to take control of a user’s data and expose their personal information. Learn how hackers are bypassing conventional security measures and hijacking sessions with stolen active session cookies, plus get tips to stay protected from this next big cyberthreat.
5. How to clear cookies and cache: an easy-to-use guide for all browsers and devices
Cookies were invented to be a helpful two-way exchange between users and websites. Still, unencrypted websites, third-party cookies, and popups requesting personal information to access a website are all things to keep a critical eye on. This article shows you how to clear your cookies and cache on your web browser and device, plus it offers best practices on when and why to keep cookies enabled and how often you should clear them.
Cookies are not a horror in themselves. They can offer you a more seamless browsing experience. But through them, your personal information may get into the wrong hands, leading to data and financial losses. If you are legitimately concerned about identity theft or don’t want your activities tracked, the best way to stay secure is to optimize your cookie preferences or even reject the cookie consent banner when visiting new webpages. Or, you may prefer the convenience cookies provide, and choose to accept them every time. Either way, the decision to use cookies is yours—just be sure to make time to read and understand the cookie policy.
