If you use Google Chrome on a regular basis, you’ve probably amassed a bunch of cookies. You can easily clear these small files with a couple of clicks.
If you ever wondered how a website «remembers» that you’re logged in after you close the page and then revisit it later on or how an online store keeps track of your shopping cart when you haven’t signed in, the answer is cookies. Unlike their sweet counterparts, these cookies are small text files that save preferences, credentials, and other personalized data to your device in order to improve the user experience. Websites create and store cookies locally on your device, and they’re sent along with your requests to the website servers. In addition to sparing you from the hassle of logging into a website every time you visit, cookies also help the website load faster by «caching» some of the content. Without cookies, websites will not remember your personal settings, such as themes, layouts, and more. These tiny text files are helpful for a cohesive web experience. Not all cookies are made equal, however. The aforementioned cookies are called first-party cookies; websites create them to store personal data temporarily. There’s another kind called third-party cookies, as well, that track your activity across the web, build a hyper-detailed profile of you, and serve you targeted ads or sell your data to other advertisers (via Google Help Center). Naturally, this flavor of cookie compromises your privacy and security, and clearing them from your browser will improve your privacy.
