Legal Definitions - cookie

A cookie is a small piece of data that a website stores on your computer or mobile device when you visit it. Its primary purpose is to help the website remember information about you, such as your preferences or login details, for future visits.

When you browse a website, the website's server creates this data and sends it to your web browser (like Chrome, Firefox, or Safari). Your browser then stores this information in a small text file. Each time you return to that website, your browser sends the cookie back to the server. This allows the website to recognize you and recall your previous activity or settings, making your browsing experience more personalized and efficient.

While cookies are essential for many convenient online features, they also raise privacy concerns because they can be used to track your browsing habits across different websites. This has led to various regulations and legal discussions regarding how websites can collect and use personal data through cookies.

Here are some examples of how cookies are used:

• Online Shopping Cart: Imagine you are browsing an online electronics store and add a new laptop and a pair of headphones to your shopping cart. Before completing your purchase, you decide to close your browser and come back the next day. When you revisit the store's website, you find that the laptop and headphones are still in your cart, ready for checkout. This happens because the website used a cookie to remember the items you had placed in your cart, even after you left the site.

• Personalized News Feed: Suppose you frequently visit a news website and often read articles about technology and science. Over time, the website starts to display more technology and science headlines prominently on its homepage when you log in or visit. This personalization is often facilitated by a cookie that remembers your reading preferences and browsing history on that site, allowing the website to tailor the content it presents to you.

• "Remember Me" Login: When you log into your email account or a social media platform, you might see an option to "Remember me" or "Keep me logged in." If you select this option, you often won't need to re-enter your username and password every time you visit the site for a certain period. A cookie stores an encrypted identifier on your device, which the website uses to recognize you and automatically log you in on subsequent visits, enhancing convenience.