Every Internet user has heard the term "cookie" before. But only a few know what cookies are all about. Cookies are harmless and make daily surfing on the Internet easier. In addition to useful cookies, there are also tracking cookies, which collect information in order to place targeted advertisements. We will inform you about the functionality and special features of cookies!
What are cookies actually?
The term "cookie" comes from the English language and means translated "cookie". A cookie is a text file on a computer. Cookies contain Data about visited internet presences, which are stored by the web browser after a corresponding visit. Cookies are used so that Internet users do not have to log in again when they visit an encrypted page again. The cookie communicates with the website and tells it that the user is a previous visitor. Cookies store the individual surfing behaviour of the user and transmit this to the website. A cookie is often considered a Trojan horse, since it transmits all information without being asked. However, cookies can be viewed and deleted if necessary. The term cookie was coined in 1994 by the American programmer Lou Montulli. He dealt with the problem that Internet pages could not remember which users had visited in the past. With the technology "persistent client state object" Lou Montulli laid the foundation for the development of the cookie. Earlier codes that were used to identify computers were called "magic cookies". This prompted the programmer to give his program the simple name "cookie". This name has been used until today.
Basic functions of cookies
Cookies do not have a good reputation. They store data on the hard disk and can identify website users. It is undisputed that cookies contribute to comfortable surfing. Cookies are set by all websites and online shops that display advertisements or interactive functions. The Internet user does not notice anything of this process. A cookie is nothing more than a text file with which web servers recognise users and save their settings. No matter whether it is a personalised website, forum or shopping list: the uses are extremely diverse. Cookies contain numerous pieces of information such as the name of the cookie, expiration date, value, path, connection type and Internet domain. Restrictions and comments can also be saved. Many websites, forums and e-mail providers offer their users individual designs with which a page can be personalized. Permanent cookies can be used to ensure that visitors retain the settings once they have selected them and do not have to change them each time they visit. The cookie is generated by the server and accepted by the browser. The browser places the cookie in a folder and calls it up when required. At the time of retrieval, a check is made to ensure that the cookie has not yet been deleted and is still "durable".
Tracking Cookies and Session Cookies
Cookies can be provided with different elements. In addition to the cookies mentioned above, tracking and session cookies exist. It must be considered that cookies are not only used by useful websites. As soon as users surf on websites that display ads, the banner ad places a tracking cookie. This cookie comes from the advertising banner itself and not from the visited website. Cookies can also be designed as session cookies. These are used for the short-term storage of information. Probably the most common use case is logging in on Internet pages with passwords. The user receives a cookie with a session ID. The cookie identifies the user and keeps the user logged on to the website until the connection is interrupted. At the end of the web session the session cookie becomes invalid. This type of cookie is used, for example, in online transactions to ensure maximum security. Ad servers (advertising servers) switch cookies to analyze the behavior of users. For example, users who have searched for "Buy a mobile phone" in the past will receive ads with mobile phone models. This is related to the practice of advertising. An advertising provider regularly delivers advertising to thousands of websites. The mass of websites and promotional items enables the companies to place targeted advertising that is tailored to the individual user. For these reasons, tracking cookies are considered by many users to be a kind of "spy software". Anti-spyware software evaluates these cookies accordingly.
Delete or allow cookies
The use of cookies is basically not bad. Only information is transmitted which is evaluated anonymously on the other side. The personalized advertising is advantageous for both sides, so that it is not possible to complain about it in a big way. The problem is rather that most users do not know how valuable their surfing behaviour is for the advertising industry. If you want to prevent the use of cookies, you can turn them off in the browser options. The browser can be set so that it accepts none or all cookies. Alternatively, consent can be requested for each individual cookie, which considerably reduces the comfort of surfing. If you block cookies completely, you must expect error messages or limited convenience. Ideally, cookies should be set so that they are treated like session cookies - they are then only accepted within a session. In general, cookies are neither dangerous nor harmful, which is why the restrictive handling should be based on personal preferences. Unwanted cookies can be deleted with a few mouse clicks.
