WHAT ARE COOKIES ANYWAY?
Have you ever gone to a website that remembered the items you had left in your cart from the last time you visited? Or remember where you left off reading? You can thank Cookies for that.
Cookies are tiny pieces of code that are collected and saved each time you visit a site. Cookies are what allow your experience with a website to be more personalized to you. However, tiny pieces of code can be used and sold in many different manners.
It is crucial to understand how to manage your Cookie Permissions before selecting “Accept All Cookies” the next time a site prompts you.
TYPES OF COOKIES
There are many digital cookies, much like the wide varieties of cookies at a bakery. Although, Chocolate Chip cookies are always the fan favorite! Wired provides a terrific, simple breakdown of each type of cookie and what it does.
- Session Cookies are temporary. These are not saved when you quit your browser.
- Persistent Cookies will stay on your hard drive until you delete them, or your browser does. These have an expiration date written into their code. That expiration date varies depending on the site or service that issued them and is chosen by the website that places them on your browser.
- First-Party Cookies are placed directly onto your device by the website you are visiting.
- Third-Party Cookies are placed on your device but not by your website, aka the first party. Instead, they are put onto your device by advertisers, data partners, or any analytics tools that track visitors (usually at the request of that first party).
- Strictly Necessary Cookies allow you to view a website’s content and use its features.
- Preference Cookies, aka Functionality Cookies, allow a website to remember data you typed; for example, your user ID, password, delivery address, email, phone, and preferred method of payment.
- Statistics Cookies, aka Performance Cookies, record how you used a website. Although these can see links clicked and pages visited, your identity is not attached to these stats. These can include cookies from a third party. So, if a website uses an analytics system from a third party to track what visitors do on that first-party website, it only divulges that tracking info to the website that hired the third party for analytics.
HOW TO MANAGE PERMISSION
Since cookies depend on which browser or type of device you are using, you should understand how you can manage your cookie settings. Check out the below links dependent on your browser/device preference.
- Manage Cookies on Google Chrome
- Manage Cookies on Safari on Mac
- Managing Cookies on iPhone, iPad, or iTouch
- Manage Cookies for Microsoft
- Managing Cookies on Android Device
- Managing Cookies on DuckDuckGo
THE CAUSE OF THE COOKIE RISE
With the creation of GDPR and other legislation following suit, consumers are being prompted more often about managing their Cookies. The collected data is a driving force behind business decisions because of its insight into user activity. However, with the push of legislation to protect consumers like GDPR and CCPA, consumers are given the right to choose how their information is collected and shared.
A business can face significant fines if they are not compliant with data sharing regulations. The cookie consent banner is annoying, but it is there to protect you as a consumer and the business.
Cookie Inventor, Lou Montulli, hopes that in the future, there will be a universal browser setting similar to “Do Not Track,” where you can have the same cookie setting for your browser and be honored by every website visited. Until then, be sure to take a minute to adjust your cookie settings.
SECURITY & COMPLIANCE
Cookies can be captured on our personal and work devices. If you are concerned if your organization is meeting security or compliance standards, then please contact our team today to discuss a network assessment!