So, we’re all familiar with that pesky little popup that comes up on every website, right? Yeah, you know the one, asking if you’d like to accept their cookies. No, not the yummy, chocolatey kind unfortunately. These are a different beast altogether. But what exactly are browser cookies? And should you be accepting them?
Browser cookies, or HTTP cookies as some folks call them, are small bits of data that websites store on your computer. They’re not necessarily a bad thing, despite popular belief. In fact, they can be pretty useful.
See, when you visit a website for the first time, it doesn’t know who you are or what you like. That’s where cookies come in. They hold onto data about your visits, like login information, shopping cart data, and settings preferences. This helps the website remember you when you come back. It’s kind of like going to your favorite local cafe, where they remember your name and your go-to latte order. Nice, right?
But it’s not all warm and fuzzy feelings. There are drawbacks. Ever noticed how after you’ve been looking at shoes online, every other website suddenly has ads for shoes? That’s thanks to something called tracking cookies. They follow you around the internet, collecting data on what you’re browsing and buying.
In our cafe analogy, that’s like after you leave, the barista follows you 🤔
