Cookies. Although the title of this blog may be misleading, Internet (HTTP) Cookies are not to be confused with the tasty treat that we all know and love. Cookies are small snippets of data or text that are sent from your device to your internet browser to better understand your habits and preferences but can also give a website host insight into your personal data. When it comes to your data privacy, it’s best to educate yourself on the ways you can protect your privacy while browsing. There are a few different types of cookies that are used to simplify your browsing experience:
Session Cookies
These are the most common cookies and are only temporarily stored. When you close your browser the cookies are gone. They help your internet browser navigate forward and backward, recognize a user and recall specific information when returning to a site and your preferences when browsing.
Personal Cookies
These cookies help “personalize” your browsing experience by learning your user habits and cater your internet browsing experience accordingly. These cookies are stored permanently on your browser and need to be manually cleared to have them removed or can have a set threshold based on a site’s specific cookie policy. There are two ways that these cookies can be used:
User Authentication
These types of cookies help remember your login information and under what name you are logged in as. This can help streamline your browsing experience so you don’t have to type in your username/password every time you visit a site.
Tracking
These cookies will recognize when a user visits your site multiple times over a period of time. Ecommerce sites will use these to help recommend related products or services based on your search or frequency to their website.
While cookies can’t take over your device the way malware and viruses do it is still important to know that cookies are an insight into your browser usage and users with malicious intent can take over your browser session if you aren’t paying attention to the type of cookies you are accepting. Instead of focusing on how this can happen, we would like to suggest a few ways to protect your online security:
- Review a site’s Cookies Policy and how they intend to use your information. If it is unclear how they propose to use your information or if they use many third party cookies, opt out or be clear on the expiry of the usage.
- Clear your stored cookies in your browser. Under your browser history information there will be a setting that allows you to “Delete Cookies”. Make this a regular practice, daily or weekly to protect your data and privacy.
- Avoid browsing websites that don’t have a Cookies Policy or Privacy Policy, that are out of date, poorly built or are riddled with advertisements and sponsorship. These sites often mishandle user information and don’t have established guidelines or regulations for collecting data.
When it comes to your online presence the more you know about how your information is being used, the better off you will be. Make a regular practice of deleting your Cookies, reviewing site policies and only frequenting sites you trust and know won’t use your information maliciously.
Interested in adding a Cookies Policy to your website?
Contact Sland Studios today and we can help you out.