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Cookies
WTF is Cookies anyway?
Like on the computer.
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Want to answer more questions in the Technology category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Computers?
Cookies are small bits of data that sites store on your computer. For example, advicenators.com stores a cookie on your computer which looks something like this:
id=B39ABE0603832C05B82BEF1AE22CA8F52CD2F0C
Whenever you visit advicenators.com, your computer sends that ID to advicenators.com. Advicenators knows that that ID string belongs to you, so it is able to log you in automatically. If you delete the cookie, you will have to log in again. Most sites that you have to log into do this. There are a few different ways to do the same thing, but it's a lot more trouble.
Cookies are also used by advertisers to track which sites you visit. Some of ads on Advicenators store a cookie on your computer, with a similar ID format as above. Whenever you visit a site with that type of ad, the company remembers which sites you visited. They use this information to give you advertising that you are more likely to click on. These types of cookies are called "tracking cookies" or "cross-domain cookies", and they are the reason why antispyware applications sometimes like to delete cookies.
Cookies by themselves can't harm you or spy on you, they take up very little space (less than 1MB at any time), and nearly ever site uses them. Don't delete your cookies. Don't mess with your cookie settings. Don't worry about it.
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