In today’s generation, the internet is like the pinnacle of life; everybody uses it on a daily basis. There is always that one pop-up that appears when you are surfing in almost any site called cookies. Most people do not know what they are and what is their purpose. So, cookies are texts of data that are saved in your browser to help make your online experience more appealing. An example of how cookies work could be like when you are searching for something from a particular website then suddenly ads start popping up that are related to what you are seeking, well that’s the work of cookies.

Many people lack this knowledge and think that cookies are malware, but they are not. They are quite essential though they do have one set back which is a few security risks involved. So, where do cookies come from? These texts of data are created every time you browse a website that may contain cookies where they send the collected information to the server to personalize your browsing experience.

Cookies are texts of data that are saved in your browser to help make your online experience more appealing. An example of how cookies work could be like when you are searching for something from a particular website then suddenly ads start popping up that are related to what you are seeking, well that’s the work of cookies.

How do you block Third party cookies?

Third party cookies are texts of data that are set by a website other than the one you are currently on. An example could be like; if you are on a website like BBC.com and the site has a twitter follow button, the button will set a cookie that can be read by the twitter app. By blocking these cookies, it will prevent other websites from interfering with what you are browsing. This basically means there won’t be any other random ad pop-ups. Most of these browsing applications do have a way to block the third-party cookies, but you only do it manually. Expect for an apple browser called Safari which automatically does it.

Different uses of cookies

Cookies are friendly texts of data, and they do have their uses which may include the following;

• Cookies help to authenticate your information online. This means cookies saves your login details to any websites. This only occurs if you allow it to log in hence saving on time automatically.

• Websites servers lack “memory” and with the help of cookies once you move forward to another page all the information in the previous page is saved or can still be accessed. This tends to be quite an essential trait for cookies which is valid till your browsing session end.

• With cookies, you can personalize or choose different layouts for your site including customizing the usage of the site. 

What effect do cookies have on my security;

Most people think that cookies are malware, but this information is entirely wrong. This is because for something to be a malware it has to reproduce itself and spread to other sites. Cookies are not programmed to do that hence they are safe. One should always be keen and careful since if the cookies are sent over in clear text without any encryption to it that is risky. Your information may be easily accessed in cases where you are using a shared network, and there is a hacker around. Though there is a way to prevent this by safely encrypting your data when using a shared network.

Can you protect your private information from cookies?