COOKIES THAT HARM YOU

Cookies! Most of us love Cookies. Mention “cookies,” and most people expect a treat to appear. When talking about computers, however, cookies aren’t what’s on the dessert menu. In fact, they’re not even physical objects. Yet they ensure that we are easily able to browse the internet at a faster speed and also provide us a more personalized experience in the virtual world. They can also cause trouble if we don’t know how to manage them. 

WHAT ARE THEY?

Cookies are stored fragments of user data used to improve the browsing experience. Cookies, commonly referred to as HTTP, web, internet, or browser cookies, are created by our server and sent to our browser. The exchange of information allows a web page to identify our computer and create an unique ID through the stored data allowing a tailored experience with more personalized results. The stored data also allow for faster loading of websites that are frequently used by us.

WHAT DO COOKIES DO?

The purpose of such cookies is to keep track of our visits and activity whenever we open a website . This isn’t always a bad thing. For example, many online retailers use cookies to keep track of the items in a user’s shopping cart as they explore the site. Without cookies, our shopping cart would reset to zero every time we clicked a new link on the site. That would make it impossible to buy anything online!

A website can also use cookies to keep a record of our most recent visit or to record our login information. Many people find this useful so that they can store passwords on commonly used sites, or simply so they know what they have visited or downloaded in the past.

Different types of cookies are used to keep track of different activities. Session cookies are used only when a person is actively navigating a website; once we leave the site, the session cookie disappears. Tracking cookies may be used to create long-term records of multiple visits to the same site. Authentication cookies track whether a user is logged in, and if so, under what name.

CAN COOKIES HARM YOU?

If in the wrong hands, sure! Hackers can abuse cookies.

Hackers can steal these cookies and then can use the site through the identity of that user. Thus, they can steal any detail that the user has on that particular site and can even access as an administrator. Accessing the site as an administrator can also allow them to make changes to the site or even steal data of other users.

Having said that, most online accounts will automatically log users out after a certain inactivity period. It is always better to log out and clear our cookies regularly to ensure safety and minimize the risk of Identity theft.

PROS OF COOKIES

● Online Shopping Experience: Almost all e-commerce websites allow us to put items in a cart, leave the page, and return to resume shopping with our cart intact. This is done through the use of cookies that store our data from earlier visits.

● Form Submissions: Cookies can remember submitted information such as names and other fields on a form. It can save our valuable time by automatically entering our Suggested Content: The “Related Searches” feature relies on cookies to collect data, cross reference it with other users who have a similar profile, then make its recommendations.

● Security Authentication: When entering a session, this allows web servers to know whether a user is logged in. If we don’t allow cookies, websites will never remember that we’re logged in.

CONS OF COOKIES

● Privacy: Most browsers are set to accept cookies by default. As a result, cookies are stored “invisibly” on our local machine every time we browse the internet. As a result, our browsing history and IP address become public knowledge.

● Local Storage: These “little” website cookies are actual files stored on our hard drive. The more we visit, the more that is stored. As it builds over time, it can take up quite a bit of storage space on our computer/mobile device.

● Unauthorized Data Collection: Websites may sell the information collected from cookies to third parties or use it to hack into social networks or other online accounts.

Many sites cannot be accessed unless we allow cookies to store our data so it is better to regularly clean these cookies and use plugins like Privacy Badger that allow users to block tracking cookies from loading. Cookies are necessary and we have to allow them to store data for the smooth functioning of our web browsers but we should try to minimize their use.

Stay Smart, Stay Satark

By- Anshika Gupta and Achint Arora