Should I accept the cookies when I load a website for first time? What are cookies? Are cookies dangerous?
We have all come across a popup that loads on the websites that we visit on our browsers (something like below) and asks our consent to accept (or reject) them to have a better experience while visiting the website.
Why do the websites ask us to Accept them? What exactly does the cookie do?
A website cookie is a small piece of data that a website stores on a user’s web browser. Cookies are created by the website’s server and are sent back to the server every time the user’s browser requests a page from that website.
They are commonly used to remember certain information about the user and their interactions with the site, enhancing the user experience.
A cookie can store information like your username, email address, Credit card details, auto fill some forms like Address, may store some repeated search texts that you did, can save your Cart data, etc,.
This way, when you visit the site again later, these can help you to ease through the pages quickly.
For eg: You go to a shopping website like Amazon, you have accepted the cookies, now you search for few products. The next time when you visit the site, there will be a list of products being displayed at the beginning saying ‘Products you may like’, ‘You’ve previously searched these’ or so. This is similar in case of Facebook or Insta pages.
Cookies — Broader aspect
Cookies can do various jobs depending on how the website designs that to function. It can be
- User Authentication — where cookie is set in a session and can be used in subsequent requests without authenticating the user.
- Personalization — can be achieved by tracking the user search and the websites can render the content based on what user likes.
- Security — such as detecting suspicious activity or preventing unauthorized access to your account.
- Advertising and Remarketing — for targeted advertising. These cookies allow them to display relevant ads for products you have shown interest in, both on that given sites and other websites. (We search something on a browser and it immediately pops-up on Facebook or Insta 😟, remember?)
- Analytics — Cookies help gather anonymous data about how users navigate and interact with the site. This data is used for analytical purposes to improve the website’s performance and user experience.
So is it safe to blindly accept cookies?
Well, not so soon and not so easy!
Privacy: Different users will have different set of preferences on how their data is being used on privacy aspects. So, it depends on individuals to Choose between what cookies to allow. Still, there will be few cookies which are mandatory for the website, which users can’t deny.
Security Risks: Certain types of cookies, such as persistent cookies, can pose security risks. If a malicious actor gains access to a user’s device and acquires sensitive cookie data (e.g., login credentials stored in cookies), they could potentially impersonate the user or gain unauthorized access to their accounts.
Non-Compliance with Regulations: Some regions have strict regulations regarding cookie usage, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Non-compliance with these regulations can lead to legal consequences and fines for website operators.
End notes:
So, websites should provide clear privacy policy on how this cookie will be used and they need to securely use these cookies. On the other hand, users should properly read the policy and accept whatever is needed and not everything blindly!
Thanks for reading till the end. 🙏.
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