Cookies… To Eat or Not to Eat?

Cookies are everywhere.

Some are warm, chocolatey, and mysteriously disappear when placed next to a cup of tea. Others live inside your browser, remember what you do online, help websites keep you logged in, and sometimes follow you around the internet like a salesperson who has had too much coffee.

Sadly, this article is about the second type.

Although, to be fair, internet cookies are not automatically bad. Just like real cookies, some are useful, some are harmless, and some probably contain ingredients you should have checked before accepting.

So, let’s talk about cookies: what they are, why websites use them, why they matter, when they become a privacy concern, and how users can stay in control. On today’s internet, clicking “Accept All” without understanding what it means is a bit like signing a contract simply because the button was green.

What Are Internet Cookies?

An internet cookie is a small piece of data that a website stores in your browser.

When you visit a website, the site may ask your browser to save a tiny file containing information. Later, when you return to the same website, the website can read that cookie and remember something about you.

That “something” could be simple. It may remember that you prefer the website in English, that you added an item to your shopping cart, or that you are already logged in. In other cases, cookies may remember more behavioural information, such as which pages you visited, which links you clicked, which products you looked at, or which adverts you interacted with.

In simple terms, cookies help websites remember things.

Without cookies, many websites would feel broken or frustrating. Imagine logging in, clicking to another page, and immediately being logged out because the website forgot who you were. Imagine adding something to your cart and losing it every time you opened another product page.

That would not be a great experience. It would be like walking into a shop, picking up a loaf of bread, turning around, and the cashier asking, “Who are you and why are you holding bread?”

Cookies solve that kind of problem, but they also introduce an important question: what exactly is being remembered, and who is remembering it?

Why Are They Called Cookies?

The name sounds funny because it is funny.

The term “cookie” has been used in computing for decades to describe a small piece of data passed between systems. Browser cookies continued that idea: a small bit of information given to your browser and later returned to the website.

Unfortunately, the name makes them sound much cuter than they sometimes are. If websites called them “behavioural tracking identifiers”, people might think twice before clicking Accept All.

But “cookies” sound friendly, and that is part of the problem. A lot of internet technology sounds harmless until you understand what it can do.

Cookies Are Not Automatically Bad

Before we start blaming cookies for every privacy concern online, it is important to be fair.

Cookies are not viruses. They are not malware. They do not directly read your personal files, and they do not secretly install software onto your device. A cookie is simply stored information.

The issue is not the existence of cookies but how they are used.

Some cookies are necessary for websites to work. Some help improve the user experience. Some help website owners understand what content people find useful, while others help keep online services free or more affordable.

Others, however, are used to build detailed profiles of users, track people across multiple websites, and power targeted advertising systems that can feel uncomfortably personal.

So the real question is not simply “Are cookies good or bad?” The better question is “What type of cookie is this, why is it being used, and do I have a real choice?”

The Good Cookies

Some cookies are essential. These are often called strictly necessary cookies or essential cookies, and they allow a website to function properly.

For example, when you log in to an account, the website needs a way to remember that your browser has already authenticated. Otherwise, every page would ask you to log in again.

Essential cookies can also help with security, authentication, fraud prevention, session management, and basic website functions. Without them, many websites would simply not work as expected.

These are the sensible cookies: the plain biscuits of the internet. They are not very exciting, but they are useful. Because they support core functionality, they are usually not the main privacy concern, although they should still be handled responsibly.

The Convenient Cookies

Some cookies are not strictly essential, but they make websites nicer to use.

These may remember your language, region, theme choice, display settings, recently viewed items, or whether you already closed a pop-up. If a website lets you choose dark mode, it may use a cookie to remember that choice. If it asks whether you want prices shown in euros or pounds, it may remember your preference.

These cookies are usually about convenience and often feel less invasive because they relate to something the user actively chose.

However, they should still be proportionate. Remembering that someone prefers dark mode is very different from remembering every article they read, every advert they clicked, and every product they nearly bought at 1:00am but wisely abandoned.

Analytics Cookies

Analytics cookies help website owners understand how people use a website.

They may show how many people visited a page, which articles were read most, how long visitors stayed, where users dropped off, which buttons were clicked, or whether people were using mobile or desktop devices.

For website owners, this information can be genuinely useful. If a blog post about phishing attacks receives a lot of attention, that suggests people care about scam awareness. If a pricing page has a high bounce rate, perhaps the information is unclear. If users repeatedly click a button that does not work properly, analytics may help identify the problem.

Analytics can improve websites, but there is a line. Privacy-friendly analytics that collect limited, aggregated information are very different from analytics tools that track individual users across multiple websites, combine data with advertising profiles, and build behavioural histories.

Analytics should help improve the website, not turn every visitor into a data file with shoes.

Advertising Cookies

Advertising cookies are where the discussion becomes more sensitive.

These cookies are commonly used to show more relevant adverts, measure ad performance, and understand whether someone interacted with an advertisement. For example, if someone visits a website about travel, they may later see adverts for hotels, flights, luggage, or travel insurance.

From a business perspective, advertising cookies can be useful. They help advertisers avoid showing completely random ads, help websites earn revenue, and support free content, tools, and services that users may not directly pay for.

From a user perspective, however, advertising cookies can feel invasive. Many people have experienced searching for something once and then seeing it follow them around the internet.

You look at a pair of shoes, and for the next two weeks the shoes appear on news websites, social media, blogs, and perhaps even in your dreams. Eventually, you are no longer sure whether you are interested in the shoes or whether the shoes are interested in you.

That is the discomfort with advertising cookies. They can make the internet feel like it is watching too closely.

Tracking Cookies

Tracking cookies are often used to recognise users across websites.

This is especially common when third-party services are embedded across many different sites. A website may include advertising scripts, social media widgets, analytics tools, embedded videos, or external services that place or read cookies to identify a browser across multiple websites.

Over time, this can help create a profile of browsing behaviour. That profile might include topics you read about, products you viewed, websites you visited, content you engaged with, adverts you clicked, approximate location, and interests inferred from your activity.

This does not always mean someone knows your name, but even without your name, behavioural profiles can become very detailed.

That is why tracking cookies are controversial. They are not simply about remembering your preferences on one website; they can be about connecting your activity across many websites. One cookie remembers your visit, while many tracking technologies remember your journey.

First-Party Cookies vs Third-Party Cookies

To understand cookies properly, it helps to know the difference between first-party cookies and third-party cookies.

A first-party cookie is created by the website you are visiting directly. For example, if you visit example.com and it stores a cookie to keep you logged in, that is a first-party cookie.

A third-party cookie is created by another service loaded inside that website. If example.com loads an advertising script from another company, that company may set or read a cookie too.

First-party cookies are usually easier for users to understand because they are connected to the website they intentionally visited. Third-party cookies are more complicated because users may not realise another company is involved.

You may think you are visiting one website, while that website includes scripts and tools from several other companies. This is one reason people feel they have lost control online.

Why Do Websites Show Cookie Banners?

Cookie banners exist because many privacy laws require websites to tell users about certain types of cookies and, in many cases, ask for consent.

The idea is good. Users should understand when data is being stored, why it is being used, and whether they can refuse.

In practice, cookie banners are not always as helpful as they should be. Some are clear and respectful, while others feel like a test of patience.

You may have seen banners where the Accept All button is large, colourful, and friendly, while the Reject All option is hidden behind several menus, a scroll box, a settings panel, and possibly a small emotional breakdown.

That is not good user choice; it is design pressure. When a website makes accepting easy but rejecting difficult, it pushes users toward the option that benefits the website most.

A fair cookie banner should make the main choices easy to understand and should not rely on confusion, fatigue, or sneaky design. Users should not need a legal qualification just to read a blog post about passwords.

The Problem With “Accept All”

Most people click Accept All because they want the banner to disappear, and that is understandable.

Cookie banners interrupt the browsing experience. They appear when you are trying to read, shop, research, or quickly check something, so people often choose the fastest option.

However, Accept All may mean accepting more than essential cookies. Depending on the website, it may include analytics, advertising, personalisation, third-party tracking, and data sharing with external services.

Sometimes that may be acceptable to the user, and sometimes it may not. The problem is that many users do not realise what they accepted.

It is not that people do not care about privacy. The internet has simply trained people to dismiss privacy decisions as quickly as possible. That is not informed consent; it is cookie fatigue.

Should You Accept Cookies?

The answer is: sometimes.

Not all cookies are equal. Essential cookies are usually necessary for the website to work, and rejecting them may prevent the site from functioning properly. Convenience cookies can improve your experience, while analytics cookies may be acceptable if they are limited, privacy-friendly, and used responsibly.

Advertising and tracking cookies deserve more caution, especially when they involve third parties and cross-site tracking.

A simple rule is accept what is necessary and be selective with everything else.

When a website gives you the option, consider choosing Reject All, Necessary Only, or Manage Preferences instead of automatically accepting everything.

This does not mean you should panic every time you see a cookie banner. It simply means you should avoid accepting everything just because the button is shiny. Cookies are like snacks from a stranger: some are fine, but it is worth asking what is inside first.

Are Cookies Dangerous?

Cookies are not dangerous in the same way viruses or malware are dangerous.

A cookie cannot directly infect your device, open your documents, or steal all your photos by itself. However, cookies can create privacy and security risks depending on how they are used.

For example, if a session cookie is stolen, an attacker may be able to impersonate your logged-in session. This is called session hijacking.

Good websites reduce this risk by using secure settings and careful session management. For users, the important habits are simple: use trusted websites, keep your browser updated, be careful with suspicious extensions, avoid logging in on shared devices without logging out, use strong passwords, and enable two-factor authentication where possible.

Cookies are only one part of security, but they connect to a bigger picture. A weak password reused across multiple accounts remains one of the biggest risks online.

Cookies on Shared Devices

Cookies become especially important on shared devices.

If you use a family computer, workplace computer, school computer, hotel computer, or public device, cookies may keep you logged in after you leave. That means the next person using the device may be able to access your account if you forgot to log out.

This is especially risky for email accounts, banking websites, cloud storage, social media, admin panels, work tools, booking systems, and password managers.

On shared devices, always log out properly. For sensitive accounts, consider using private browsing mode, but remember that private browsing is not magic. It usually deletes cookies after the session ends, but it does not make you invisible to websites, your network, or every tracking method.

Private browsing is like cleaning the table after eating. It is useful, but it does not mean nobody saw you eat the cake.

Cookies and Personalisation

Some cookies help personalise your experience, and this can be genuinely helpful.

A website may show content relevant to your region, an online store may recommend products based on your interests, a streaming service may remember what you watched, and a learning platform may remember your progress.

Personalisation can save time and make services more useful, but it can also become uncomfortable when it feels too accurate, too persistent, or too hidden.

There is a difference between “Here are more articles like the one you just read” and “We have followed your behaviour across 46 websites and calculated that you are likely to buy running shoes, office furniture, and anxiety tea.”

The first feels helpful. The second feels like the internet needs to take a step back and respect personal space.

Cookies and Free Content

Many websites rely on advertising to fund their content, including blogs, news sites, educational resources, tools, forums, and independent websites.

Running a website costs money. Hosting, development, security, support, content creation, design, maintenance, monitoring, and infrastructure all require resources.

Advertising can help cover these costs, which is why the cookie conversation needs balance. It is easy to say that all advertising cookies are bad, but many free online services exist because advertising helps pay the bills.

The better question is not whether advertising should exist at all, but whether it can be done transparently, respectfully, and with meaningful user control.

Users should know when advertising cookies are used, understand the purpose, and be able to make a choice. Privacy and business sustainability do not need to be enemies, but trust has to come first.

Cookie Consent Should Be Honest

A good cookie consent experience should not be manipulative.

It should clearly explain what cookies are used, why they are used, which are necessary, which are optional, whether third parties are involved, and how users can change their choice later.

The Accept All button should not be bright and obvious while the Reject All button is hidden like a secret level in a video game.

Good privacy design is not just about legal compliance; it is about respect. A company that respects users should not need to trick them into accepting cookies.

Simple Ways to Manage Cookies Better

You do not need to become a cybersecurity expert to manage cookies better.

1. Do not automatically click “Accept All”. Choose Reject All, Necessary Only, or Manage Preferences when available.

2. Clear cookies occasionally. This can remove old stored data, but remember it may also log you out of websites.

3. Check your browser privacy settings. Most browsers let you block or limit third-party cookies and tracking.

4. Be careful with browser extensions. Only install extensions you trust and remove ones you no longer use.

5. Use private browsing when useful. It can help on shared devices, but it does not make you invisible online.

6. Log out on shared devices. Closing the tab is not the same as logging out.

7. Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication. Cookies matter, but account security still starts with strong access protection.

The goal is not to become paranoid. The goal is simply to become less automatic.

What About Cookie Alternatives?

Cookies are not the only way websites can recognise users or store information.

There are also technologies such as local storage, session storage, tracking pixels, device fingerprinting, server-side tracking, app identifiers, and embedded scripts.

This matters because blocking cookies does not automatically stop every kind of tracking. Some systems may use other methods to recognise a device or browser.

That is why the cookie conversation is really part of a larger privacy conversation. Users need clear information, but companies also need to design responsibly.

A website should not say, “Good news, we do not use cookies,” while quietly using another method that does the same thing in a less visible way. That is like saying, “We do not eat biscuits,” while holding a cake: technically different, but spiritually suspicious.

Cookies and Trust

The real issue with cookies is not just technology. It is trust.

Do you trust the website? Do you understand what it collects? Can you control your choices? Does it explain things clearly? Does it collect only what it needs? Does it respect your decision if you reject optional cookies?

A good website treats cookie consent as part of the user experience, not as an obstacle to push people through. A bad website treats cookie banners like a trapdoor: confusing enough that most people give up and accept everything.

Cookies are small, but they reveal something big about a company’s attitude toward users.

Where HashThat Fits In

At HashThat, we care about making online security easier to understand and easier to manage.

Cookies are a good example of a bigger internet problem: the technology itself can be useful, but users are not always given enough clarity or control.

The same applies to passwords, links, online accounts, and digital tools. People should not need to be cybersecurity experts just to understand what is happening with their data.

That is why HashThat focuses on features designed to give users more confidence online, such as zero-knowledge password management, secure password sharing, password history and audit trails, device verification, login notifications, safer link shortening, and clearer control over digital security.

Like many websites, HashThat may use certain cookies for analytics, functionality, and, where appropriate, advertising. Advertising cookies can help support online services, subsidise running costs, and allow companies to keep products and pricing more accessible.

However, advertising cookies are not used within the HashThat app itself. The app is designed to help users manage sensitive information such as passwords, accounts, and security data, and introducing advertising technologies into that environment would not align with the level of trust users expect.

The app therefore avoids advertising cookies and advertising trackers entirely. Any cookies or similar technologies used within the app are limited to essential functionality, security, authentication, and improving the user experience.

The important part is choice. Users should understand what cookies are being used, why they are being used, and whether they want to accept them.

For us, trust matters more than squeezing every possible click, view, or tracking signal out of a visitor. If cookies are used, they should have a clear purpose, and if advertising helps support a service, that should be explained honestly.

The goal is not to make people scared of the internet. The goal is to help people use it with more confidence, more awareness, and a better understanding of the choices available to them.

Because online safety should not feel like decoding a legal document every time you visit a website.

Cookies Are Only One Part of Online Security

Cookies often receive a lot of attention because they are visible. Every website seems to display a banner asking for consent, which means users are constantly reminded that cookies exist.

But cookies are only one piece of the wider security and privacy picture.

A person can reject every optional cookie and still put themselves at risk by using weak passwords, reusing the same password across multiple accounts, clicking suspicious links, or ignoring security warnings.

Likewise, someone may accept a few analytics cookies and still maintain excellent security habits overall.

Online safety is rarely about one single decision. It is usually the result of many small decisions made consistently over time.

Strong passwords, two-factor authentication, secure password storage, careful browsing habits, software updates, login notifications, and awareness of scams all play an important role.

Cookies matter because they affect privacy, convenience, and sometimes security. But they should be viewed as part of a larger conversation about digital trust.

Practical Advice for Everyday Users

If you want a simple approach to cookies, you do not need to become a privacy expert.

A few practical habits can make a big difference:

• Read cookie banners when possible instead of automatically clicking "Accept All."
• Choose "Necessary Only" or "Manage Preferences" if those options are available.
• Clear cookies occasionally if you want to remove stored browsing information.
• Use private browsing on shared devices.
• Log out of important accounts when using public or family computers.
• Keep your browser updated.
• Use strong, unique passwords for every account.
• Enable two-factor authentication whenever possible.

None of these steps require advanced technical knowledge.

They simply help you stay more aware of how your information is being used.

The Future of Cookies

The internet is changing.

Many browsers now limit third-party cookies, and privacy regulations continue to evolve. Companies are exploring alternative ways to measure website performance and deliver advertising while reducing unnecessary tracking.

Some forms of tracking may become less common, while new technologies may appear.

What should remain constant is the principle of transparency.

Users deserve to know what information is being collected, why it is being collected, and whether they have a genuine choice.

Technology will continue to change, but trust will always matter.

So, To Eat or Not to Eat?

The answer is much the same as it was at the beginning. Some cookies are useful, some are necessary, and some simply make websites easier to use. Others help support free content and online services, while certain types of tracking deserve a little more caution and consideration.

The important thing is not to fear cookies or accept them automatically. Instead, take a moment to understand what they do, review the options available, and decide what feels reasonable for you. Online privacy is not about getting every decision perfectly right; it is about making informed choices and staying aware of how your information is used.

Real cookies are best enjoyed warm, preferably with a cup of tea. Internet cookies are best enjoyed with clear settings, honest explanations, and a healthy amount of common sense.