Supportsoft Glossary

Browser-Based Data for User Tracking and Session

Cookies are little packets of information stored by a site within a user's web browser. They help to remember users between visits and pages. Cookies were originally introduced as a way to provide the basic functions needed to keep a user logged in and to maintain shopping cart items, and also to store user preferences. For many sites, over a period of time, cookies became an important part of web analytics, personalising web pages for users and advertising services offered by many major companies.

Cookies typically contain user IDs, or "state" information. For example, when a user signs into a site, the session cookie will store a user's login state. When a user logs into a site, the session cookie will store the user's login state and provide access to that site's pages without requiring users to log in each time they visit that site. Preference cookies also allow sites to store preferences, such as the language and theme that the user selected.

Cookies are divided into two main categories: first-party cookies are set by the site being visited, and third-party cookies are set by an entity that is not part of the site being visited. Third-party cookies have received increasing attention for enabling cross-site tracking, resulting in modern browsers and legislation imposing restrictions on or the elimination of third-party cookies.

However, there is also a need to ensure that users have an understanding of how their data will be treated and how their information will comply with regulatory requirements such as GDPR and CCPA.