In English it sounds like something delicious, but they have raised many privacy issues since they were introduced. Let’s talk about tracking cookies or tracking cookies. By now we have all heard of it as much as we have experienced it on our skin, most of the time without realizing it. However, still today the question is what exactly are these and how do they work?virtual cookies”.
The aspect worth mentioning is that the websites that create them use them to get to know the user better and decide, for example, which advertisements to show. And although they can speed up some practices and personalize the web experiencesomeone could make one misuse to our detriment. For this reason, it is important to understand what is ahead of us.
Why tracking cookies threaten online privacy
Define yourself as small text files weighing no more than a few kilobytes, i “cookie” are stored on your computer every time you browse the web. Cookies are encrypted and contain details of our interactions with a particular web page with the aim of improving the browsing experience and remain in the browser until they expire.
This means that these tiny snippets of code are used to automatically login to websites, save customized information such as the language you prefer to view a page or shopping cart on e-commerce sites.
I tracking cookies o tracking cookies are a specific type of cookie that can record the habits of Internet users as they move online from page to page. Mainly used to target advertisements based on web behavior, these cookies have become one widespread and annoying practice for many.
We’ve all experienced it: we do some research on a television we’d like to buy and suddenly banner ads appear on the TVs for sale or those we’ve read about when we connect to Facebook, Instagram and Google, even for several days.
The hidden truth behind tracking cookies
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This naturally raises concerns about what data is collected, with whom browsing data is shared, and how that data is ultimately used, especially if it is collected without people’s consent.
That’s why most websites today, before using any non-strictly necessary cookies, are forced to ask for prior and informed consent to users before online tracking as much as offer the possibility to escape this practice.
Cookies are portions of text that are sent from a site or a web server to a web client such as the browser, and are then sent back to the sender without any modification, every time that section is visited again by the user
It must be said that not all websites are able to read the tracking cookies saved on the device. Indeed, websites can only read the cookies they create. However, the third-party services hosted on these sites can read cookies from other web pages and can use them to track the user’s web browsing patterns without their knowledge. So advertising agencies can find out which websites we visit and show specific products while browsing.
Most tracking cookies originate from third-party add-ons (or add-ons).such as advertisements that a company sells for revenue and which are displayed on the site, social media widgets (such as a Like button), or web analytics.
Tracking cookies between personalized advertising and invasion of privacy
Tracking cookies are not considered spyware o malwarealthough one could argue that they are adware. While spyware and malware surreptitiously track you, damage your device, and are designed to be difficult to stop, this does not apply to tracking cookies, which you must choose to enable and which can be disabled.
Furthermore, these cookies do not document private information such as messages, photos or other sensitive data as spyware or malware would. Tracking cookies come mainly used for advertising purposes and they don’t send the data to a malicious actor, unless they’re hacked.
While first-party cookies or technical cookies work only within the site and do not follow the user online, third-party cookies are more invasive and are managed by third parties who store navigation information to create a personalized profile
Tracking cookies collect IP address, geographical location information, the sites we have visited, what we have looked at on those sites, the products we have purchased or even those we have clicked on but not purchased. All data you need to show hyper-targeted ads and increase the chances of a purchase being made.
That said, it’s pretty easy to imagine how dangerous it would be if they fell into the wrong hands. For example, if a malicious hacker takes possession of the cookies downloaded on our device, it could use our credentials to access sensitive information. Any page with pre-saved login credentials would become easy prey.
Tracking cookies are now everywhere, but the good news is that you can block them or otherwise remove them from your browser. Browsers like DuckDuckGo o Tor, have a tracking function disabled by default. However, with more mainstream browsers like Chrome, Firefox or Safari, it is still possible delete cookies and disable online tracking.
To know more: Computer security: guide to safe surfing on the web