This one is a bit long, but worth it. I recommend you read until the end so you can find out why these cookies are important and how you are being tracked and having tailored ads shown to you.
Have you noticed over the last few years, every site is now showing you a little pop up banner about cookies? Well, they added a privacy law in Europe in 2018 (article on Wikipedia about that), that demands that any site shown to a European must disclose how they are using cookies on their website, and since Europeans visit websites all over the world, the rest of the world complied.
And they are not even the delicious cookies you can eat. Nope, in computer lingo, a cookie (aka web cookie, Internet cookie, browser cookie) is a little tracking document that is stored on your computer or device.
Cookies allow websites to store useful information on your computer instead of having to store on their site. For example, you go to a website that sells these cool handtowels, and you add a few items to a shopping cart. You decide to think about it for a while and close the window. A month goes by and you go back to the site, and your items are still in your cart waiting for you. That is how that happens.
Some will store authentication cookies, they allow you to visit multiple pages of a website without having to log in each time.
Tracking cookies, are used to track what websites you have been to and are put there by the advertisers on the webpages you go to. They are given permission to that one advertiser to store and read the file on your computer. Remember that hand towel site you were on earlier, as you browse the internet, you will start to notice ads for hand towels. That is how that works!
These Tracking cookies are also called Third Party Cookies.
What To Do When You See A Cookie Banner
You usually, have 3 options,
- Accept
- Reject
- Customize / Manage My Preferences (this can vary from site to site, but you get the idea)
If you Accept, you are allowing that website and its content to create little files on your computer to store information about you. Remember, this can be useful, for remembering items in your shopping cart, preferences you have setup for the website, or even where you left off when reading a long article.
If you Reject, you lose the above functionality, but are also not going to get tracked.
If you Customize, you can choose what you want tracked and not tracked. Let’s look at a sample I gathered from an website that shall not be named, but it is a famous Canadian brand.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Here we see, that there are Strictly Necessary Cookies, that we can’t disable, but, we have the option to click the + beside it see what it will be storing. In this sites case, they state that these cookies are necessary for the website to function and if you disable some of these features in your browser, some parts of the website will not work.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow them to count visits and traffic sources so they can measure and improve the performance of the site. They help them know which pages are more popular and which ones are not. They go on to state that this information is Anonymously gathered. You can turn this one off, but they won’t be able to know you visited the site
Functional Cookies
These cookies allow the site to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. If you do not allow these cookies, some features may not work correctly. These ones sound like the ones that are tracking what is in your basket, what coupon codes you have loaded etc, even your shipping destination and email address info (without creating an account).
Social Media Cookies
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that they added to the site to enable you to share content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through the site advertising partners. They may be used to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They don’t store personal information but identify you by your browser and device.
Choices, Choices, Choices….
Looking at the above options, it is proof that you should read what that cookie banner is telling you and not to blindly ‘Accept All’. There is proof in those descriptions that social media companies and advertisers can track you if you don’t choose to disable these options.
It is totally up to you how you want that site to use your information. Do you want it being shared with third parties that you have no control over and they are using that information against you by serving up ads targeting and tailoring just for you? You can get by with ‘Accepting All’ each time you go to a new site, but be aware that the websites you visit are being recorded and shared, or, you can tailor it to best suit your needs. Keep the necessary tracking cookies enabled, but turn off the Social Media and Targeting cookies.
You typically only have to do this once, the first time you visit the site.