- Published on
Cookies
- Authors
- Name
- Konrad Persson
What are Cookies?
Introduction
Cookies are small pieces of data stored in your browser, designed to enhance user experience, track behavior, and enable key website functionalities. Despite their simplicity, cookies have evolved significantly since their inception, shaping modern web technologies and raising critical privacy concerns.
NOTE
This is a part of the Series: "Understanding cookies, consent, and future-proofing your tracking"
History
The cookie was invented in 1994 by Lou Montulli while working at Netscape. Initially, cookies were intended to provide stateful information to websites, like remembering a user’s session. Over time, cookies became a cornerstone for personalization and tracking, enabling e-commerce and targeted advertising.
Usage
Cookies serve various purposes:
Session management: Remembering logged-in users.
Personalization: Saving user preferences.
Tracking and analytics: Collecting behavioral data for targeted advertising and performance monitoring.
First-Party vs. Third-Party
First-party cookies: Created by the website you visit. They store user-specific data for personalization and functionality.
Third-party cookies: Created by domains other than the one you’re visiting. They’re mainly used for tracking across sites for advertising purposes.
What happened to Second-Party Cookies?
The term "second-party" refers to data shared between trusted partners. While not a separate cookie type, this collaboration relies on first-party data shared under agreements.
Server-Side Tracking
As privacy concerns grow, server-side tracking is becoming popular. This method shifts the data processing from the client’s browser to a secure server, reducing dependency on third-party cookies and increasing data security.
Other technologies
While cookies dominate, other tracking methods exist:
Local storage: A simpler method for storing data in the browser.
Pixels: Invisible images that track user interactions and collect data.
Fingerprinting: Collecting device-specific information for tracking without cookies.
Cookies and Consent
GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mandates user consent for non-essential cookies in the European Economic Area (EEA). Sites must disclose their usage and provide opt-in mechanisms.
The future of Cookies
Will cookies survive? Likely, first-party cookies will remain for core functionalities, but third-party cookies are on their way out. Privacy-preserving technologies like Google’s Privacy Sandbox aim to fill the gap. Here’s a rough timeline:
2025: Third-party cookies phases out in Chrome.
2026 and beyond: Adoption of new privacy-focused solutions like Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) or Topics API.
WARNING
- Needs update, needs sources This section needs an updated timeline from the Google Dev blog
TL;DR
Cookies, especially third-party ones, are integral but face challenges from regulations like GDPR and evolving privacy expectations. The shift toward first-party data and server-side tracking heralds a new era in web technology.