Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They are used to remember your preferences and settings, such as login information and language preferences, and to keep track of your browsing activity on that site. Cookies can be very helpful and convenient in our everyday browsing.
For example, they can remember our login information and save us the trouble of having to enter it every time we visit a website. They can also remember our language and display preferences, so we don't have to set them manually each time.
Cookies can also improve our browsing experience by enabling websites to load faster and more efficiently. For example, when we visit a website that we've been to before, the browser can use cookies to remember some of the content from the previous visit, so it doesn't have to be reloaded again.
In addition to convenience, cookies can also enhance security by helping to prevent fraud and unauthorized access to our accounts. For example, they can be used to remember our preferences for two-factor authentication, or to help us detect and prevent suspicious login attempts.
Advertisers can use cookies to track your online activity across multiple websites. When you visit a website that displays ads from a particular advertiser, that advertiser can use cookies to recognize your browser and collect information about the pages you visit and the actions you take on those pages. This information is used to build a profile of your interests and behaviors, which can then be used to serve you targeted ads based on your likely interests.
In other words, advertisers can follow you with cookies by using them to track your online activity and gather information about your interests and behavior. They can then use this information to show you ads that are more relevant to you, based on what they think you are likely to be interested in.
It's important to be aware of how cookies are used and to take steps to manage them, but we shouldn't overlook their many benefits. Cookies can be very helpful and convenient in our everyday browsing, and they can also enhance our security by helping to prevent fraud and unauthorized access to our accounts. So while it's important to be cautious about online tracking, we shouldn't forget about the many helpful uses of cookies.