A web cookie, also known as an internet cookie or a browser cookie, is a text file that contains information that the website needs to store relating to a particular visit or visitor. The file is stored on the user’s machine, can be deleted by the user, and can only be read by the user or the website that created the cookie. Cookies, and other forms of local storage, are vital to running a usable web. Without Cookies, websites wouldn’t remember our settings or logins, our preferences, or what content we have already seen.
Without cookies, a website cannot pass any information from one-page view to another. For example, if a website like Facebook didn’t use cookies to remember logged-in users then users would have to enter their username and password every time they clicked a link and loaded a new page. Cookies are a very normal part of the web and perfectly safe. Cookies will not cause harm to you or your devices and cannot “leak” private information about you. But, like many technologies, they can be abused. There is growing concern about the (mis)use of cookies and the effect this has on user privacy.
