Not your Grandma’s Cookies
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY?
You visit a website that sells really cool shoes, then, all of a sudden you are bombarded with ads selling shoes? Or you talk to a friend about buying a new car, or even a toilet seat, and whaalaa! Your social media is filled with references to these items. And you may think, Oh that is just a coincidence. It is NOT!
LET’S TALK ABOUT COOKIES:
Browser cookies are small text files that websites store on your computer and BROWSER to remember information about you, like your login status, preferences, and shopping cart items. And, when you revisit a site, your browser sends the cookie back, allowing the website to recognize your device “and personalize your experience.”
HOWEVER, Cookies can also be shared with “partners,” 3rd-Party providers, and other websites you visit. These small text files track and store your personal data and browsing behavior for analytics, advertising, and can be sold to big data storehouses, which raises privacy concerns.
What are some common uses of Cookies?
Some Cookies, generally referred to as 1st-Party Cookies, are necessary and are reported to not pose a risk. Well, that is true unless the company collecting this data shares or sells our information. 3rd-Party Cookies are strictly for tracking our personal data and online footprint – where we visit online, what we do while we are there, what we buy, etc., and can extract our location by storing our IP addresses, and other means.
- Remembering your preferences: Storing settings like your language or region. GEOLOCATION is tracked with your IP address.
- Maintaining logins: Keeping you logged-in to websites so you don’t have to re-enter your credentials every time you visit.
- Shopping carts: Remembering the items you’ve added to your cart, or between pages and even if you leave the site and come back later.
- Analytics: Helping website owners understand how people use their site by counting visitors and tracking page views.
- Tracking your browsing habits across different websites you visit, to :show you more relevant ads” – Personalized advertising – and share your browsing and buying habits with other sites. In other words, your cookies are collected in a “bucket” or “wagon” and shared with the sites you visit, from site-to-site. Some of the tracking cookies, especially the “shared” cookies are commonly referred to as 3rd-Party Cookies.
The good news is that you can DENY these 3rd Party cookies and TURN OFF the settings in your browser or device to block 3rd-Party Cookies. Join one of our FREE Hands-on Online Safety Workshops in St. Tammany Parish to understand better how cookies are used, stored and can be blocked.
