Cookie consent popups are so common you probably just click accept all without reading the fine print. Do you really need to accept all cookies, though?
When You Should Accept Cookies
Most times, when you visit a website for the first time,internet cookiesare created. Your web browser stores these files on your device, and on your next visit to the website, your web browser retrieves the cookies and sends them to the site’s network server.
This way, network servers can easily identify you and your device, remember information about your previous visits, and make the site more useful.
Cookies aren’t all bad. In fact, some are pretty cool. Here are the three cookies we recommend you accept while browsing.
1. Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are so-called because some parts of the website can’t function without them. They enable you to maintain forms, shopping carts, and consent preferences, navigate from one page to another and back, or even stay logged in.
While it’s a good idea to accept essential cookies, you’ll find no way to reject them on most websites.
you may onlyturn off necessary cookies by tweaking your browser settings, although this can affect how sites work.
2. Performance Cookies
While not essential, you may also accept performance or analytics cookies. Through these cookies, websites obtain information (anonymously), like how many people visit their site, how much time they spend, which pages they visit, and which links they click.
If you’re keen on helping the sites you visit to improve their design, content, and functionality, you should accept performance cookies.
3. Functional Cookies
You may also accept functional or personalization cookies. These cookies help websites remember your preferences regarding language, timezone, font, log-in credentials, and other things, which also helps the sites load faster.
While these cookies aren’t essential, they improve your browsing experience. Imagine having to select your preferred language every time you visit a site that you use a little too often!
You don’t need to compromise your browsing experience by blanket refusing all cookies.
When You Can Reject Cookies
Not all cookies are necessary or beneficial for you.
While marketing cookies aren’t particularly harmful, they predominantly benefit the website or a third party (typically advertising networks or social media platforms). These cookies may also processPersonally Identifiable Information (PII)from monitoring your browsing activities, increasing the risks of data breaches.
With marketing cookies, also called tracking, targeting, or advertising cookies, the goal is to create a profile of your interests to deliver relevant ads. This is why you can do a one-time search for female jeans and then receive back-to-back ads for female jeans.
Of course, seeing only ads relevant to you sounds great, but you may find that the example above is more the case. If you reject marketing cookies, you’ll still see ads—just not the ones ad platforms deem “relevant for you.”
How to Manage Your Cookie Settings
Most websites will allow you to accept or reject cookies on your first visit. However, in some cases, you’ll be persuaded to accept essential cookies.
In other cases, it’ll appear as though you’re just being informed, with no option to make any choices.
However, since all sites are required by law to inform you and obtain consent before storing cookies on your devices, you’ll find the cookie policy tucked away somewhere in the pop-up message. For instance, after being presented with the pop-up message in the image below, I clicked theopt-out preferences optionand found a way to accept or reject cookies.
You should always evaluate a website’s cookie policy before accepting any cookies. Some websites display theirs clearly, but you’ll have to do some digging for others.
Another way to manage your cookie settings is to accept only necessary cookies by default. You can do this bychanging your browser’s cookie settingsor installing extensions that can block tracking cookies.
Also, you can use an incognito orprivate browsing modeto manage your cookie settings. This mode prevents websites from storing cookies by deleting them once you close the window. However, this mode may not completely prevent sites from collecting data about you, especially if you don’t block third-party cookies in this mode.
You Don’t Need to Accept All Cookies While Browsing
Cookies are not all bad. However, accepting every cookie request isn’t necessary or beneficial for you.
Consider taking the time to study cookie requests and manage the permissions you grant. You can retain a smooth browsing experience while limiting needless tracking.
