In the privacy policy at the beginning, which you agreed to, you allowed for cookies to be collected.
WHAT ARE COOKIES?
ARE THEY BAD?
No, cookies are not necessarily "bad".
Cookies are small strings of data that are stored directly in the browser. They are used to monitor your browsing activity and remember certain information about you — like what’s in your shopping cart, or your login information. Often, they are considered helpful and a necessary part to run many websites.
A few years ago, the GDPR privacy law went into effect in Europe, which led to companies all over the world adding a cookie pop-up to their website. That's why almost every website has a pop-up asking if you'll accept their use of cookies, which many of us approve without thinking...
First-party cookies are created by the domain the user is visiting. These cookies are generally considered good and helpful, as they are used to help provide a better user experience. They remember pieces of information such as your username and passwords and language preferences.
Third-party cookies are those created by domains other than the one the user is currently visiting. They are mainly used for tracking and online advertising purposes. Third-party cookies are often used to create more targeted ads, which can sometimes feel creepy, but some users may find it helpful.
If you want to check what cookies the website you are browsing has collected, check out the tutorial below.
Try it out on this website, check what cookies have been stored!
Chrome
1. Right-click anywhere on the page and select "Inspect" (or press Ctrl+Shift+I on Windows or Cmd+Option+I on Mac)
2. In the Developer Tools window that opens, click on the "Application" tab at the top.
3. In the left sidebar, under the "Storage" section, click "🍪 Cookies". You’ll see a list of websites that have set cookies.
4. Click on the website's URL to view the cookies it has stored. You’ll see details like the cookie name, value, domain, path, expiration date, and more.
Safari
1. Click "Develop" in the top menu bar (if you don’t see this, enable the Develop menu in Safari’s Preferences under the "Advanced" tab).
2. Select "Show Web Inspector" (or press Cmd+Option+I)
3. In the Web Inspector window, click on the "Storage" tab.
4. Expand the "Cookies" section on the left side to see a list of cookies stored by that website.
Edge
1. Right-click anywhere on the page and select "Inspect" (or press Ctrl+Shift+I on Windows or Cmd+Option+I on Mac)
2. Click on the "Application" tab in the Developer Tools window.
3. On the left panel, under "Storage", click "Cookies".
4. Select the website’s URL to see the cookies it has stored, along with details like expiration and content.
Firefox
1. Right-click anywhere on the page and select "Inspect" (or press Ctrl+Shift+I on Windows or Cmd+Option+I on Mac)
2. Click on the "Storage" tab in the Developer Tools window.
3. In the left sidebar, expand the "Cookies" section and click on the website’s URL.
4. You will see all the cookies set by that website, along with their details.
While third-party cookies are not inherently harmful, they do track your browsing habits across websites.
This has the potential to create privacy and security risks through the creation of detailed user profiles, or the malicious theft of personal information. User information gained through illegitimate means is also often sold to other third parties, multiplying the problem further.
Cookies themselves are not unsafe or “bad” — they vary in type of data collected across websites and it is up to the user’s privacy preferences for what to allow.
Third-party cookies can be blocked in the settings of most browsers under “Privacy & Security”, though several already block them automatically (such as Safari). Using private or incognito modes to browse the web is another way to prevent the use of third-party cookies.
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT
DATA A WEBSITE MAY BE COLLECTING?
Part of the fear and concern surrounding cookies and browsing privacy is that they are not widely understood. It sounds scary to think of websites storing little pieces of our data, but upon entering most websites, we are prompted with an annoying little pop-up asking the question:
"CAN WE USE COOKIES? READ OUR PRIVACY POLICY!"
These often block our view of the rest of the page and we see them so often that many of us will just click "accept" to be done with it. Do we ever actually read those privacy policies, though?
As shown previously, you can specifically check on cookies in your browser, but privacy policies are the best way to get a sense of what a website may be doing with your data and information.
Take this website's privacy policy as an example. You had probably just clicked accept without reading it, right?
Last year, Pew Research Center conducted a survey of U.S. adults about data privacy. One of their questions was about how often people clicked “accept” on privacy policies without reading them. The results were that nearly 6 in 10 Americans frequently skip reading privacy policies.
Not reading privacy policies is something we all do and often doesn't visibly affect our daily browsing activities. But by consenting to something without knowing what it is opens up the opportunity for a website to do whatever it wants.
For this website, you've agreed to let your camera, microphone, and location data be used however I want. I also get to name your first-born child.
Most websites probably wouldn't go so far with their policies, but it's important to be aware of how easy it is to agree to something risky, as well as what you agree to by browsing and participating in the web.
Cookies are an often misunderstood bit of technology, but they make for a good segue into the larger conversation around data privacy on the modern web.
On one hand, users should be informed about what data companies are tracking when they visit a website.
On the other hand, requiring them to simply click a big, bright "ACCEPT" without providing clear understanding of what they’re agreeing to doesn’t seem like an effective solution. It worsens the user experience without doing anything very meaningful in return.
These conflicts around privacy policies, in addition to the constant push for us to accept cookies on every website we visit, highlight a deeper issue with how privacy and data collection are handled online.
Privacy-centered regulations, such as the GDPR, are increasing alongside our awareness of data privacy issues. The only fair way forward is by making the web more focused on openness, transparency and communicating directly to users, rather than on obscure methods of collecting their data without their knowledge or consent.
Hopefully, this experience gave you a little more knowledge about what cookies are, how they are used, and encouraged you to consider how you interact with the privacy of your data on the web.
By the way, I've been populating the cookies on this site with jokes while you've been browsing. You should use what you learned here to check it out (and read the extra facts I hid)!
After all this, you deserve a cookie.
