Cookies

A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on the client computer (your computer) to make the website function better. Note that these files can be stored as actual “cookies” or as “local/session storage”.
I will be using Cookie to refer to both in the rest of this article

Some examples of what cookies are used for:

• Remembering what language/theme the website should be in
• Storing your cart when shopping online
• Keeping you logged in

There are also cookies that are not explicitly set by the website owner themselves. These are often introduced when websites include projects which have been made by other people. Some of these include:

• Disqus - A comment system for your website
• Google analytics - To track info about the website (i.e how many times each page has been seen)
• Social media (twitter, facebook, etc) - To add in those shiny “like” or “tweet” buttons.

Cookies like these are stored for pretty much every website you visit and they make the World Wide Web what it is today.

The EU cookie law

Since mid 2015 every website which is either hosted in Europe or targets the European market is required to inform and get consent from users about using cookies. This is usually done with a bar at the bottom of the page which can be dismissed with a simple button. More information about the legislation around the cookie law can be found here.

Revoking cookie access

All well known browser offer a way for you to revoke any cookie. Explore the links below to learn more.

• Deleting cookies in Chrome
• Deleting cookies in Firefox
• Deleting cookies in Edge