QandAs: Tech

What are Cookies?

Answer:
Cookies are small packets of user information

created by a web server, transferred to the user's Internet browser, and eventually stored as a .txt file somewhere on the user's hard drive. Contrary to popular belief, most cookies only contain information voluntarily provided by the user or designed to make return visits more personalized.

If you've ever shopped online, the chances are good that you've accumulated a number of cookies without even realizing it. All of the personal contact information you may have completed in a checkout form or survey or registration can be compiled into a small .txt file by the website's server, then transmitted to your Internet browser (Netscape, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.). This information will eventually be stored on your computer's hard drive and will be uploaded again whenever you visit that website again. This is why you may get a personalized greeting (Hello Dave, you have no new messages) or suggestions for new purchases based on your previous shopping history (If you enjoyed Bruce Springsteen, you may want to check out the Eagles new release.). Cookies can be very useful when used to refresh a website's memory of your previous activity. In fact, some websites may not function at all if you have disabled your computer's ability to accept cookies from servers.

Cookies cannot contain malicious coding or viruses, so they cannot harm the inner workings of your browser or hard drive. The main danger with certain types of cookies is the possible sharing of personal information with third parties. Sometimes the website itself does not create the cookie, but rather a third party advertiser sends out a cookie to track individual visitors' shopping habits. Some cookies only exist while the user is involved in a session with the website, but others may persist and follow the user from site to site afterwards. The user's entire web history could be tracked using this method, but generally the only tangible information available in standard cookies would be whatever the user voluntarily supplied in the past.

The term "cookies" is believed to have started with UNIX data packets known as either fortune cookies or magic cookies. These UNIX files did not perform the same function as modern cookies, but the basic idea of storing information in a small file was somewhat similar. Cookies can be safely removed during routine disk clean-up procedures, but users may discover they will have to start from scratch when it comes to online shopping forms and other websites which may hold personal information in cookies.