Cookie

Pieces of data generated or collected in web browsers or by a web server and stored in either a user's computer or web server and are ready for use by the web application when the user browses the application in the future. This data can then be used by an entity hosting the web server to identify and track the user's browsing history and searches or when the user returns to the website. Cookies are also designed to help personalize the web content presented to a user of the browser on which the cookies were stored based on prior interests, preferences, searches and the locations where the user logged in. Cookies can be used to offer targeted marketing materials and items of potential interest based on the user's previous internet sessions. Advertisers can use cookies and other tracking methods to analyze user behaviors. When different users use a computer that was previously used by another person, the website may inspect the cookies could execute the new user's session using the wrong user's preferences. For this reason, recent privacy legislation has focused on the collection of a browser's cookies and browsing history and the use of that data by a website's owner, processor, operator or controller.