Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
Journal Inquirer – The millions of dollars in salaries and bonuses paid to executives at Hartford HealthCare and other health networks in Connecticut belie their nonprofit status and show how the delivery of health care here is being changed for the worse, a health care union leader says.
Connecticut Center of Economic Analysis – In early June, the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) revised national 2015Q1 GDP estimates, including, unfortunately, strong downward revisions for Connecticut’s Real Gross State Product, wiping out the strong growth reported in CCEA’s previous Outlook.
Milwaukee Community Journal – Is the solution to joblessness among veterans, entrepreneurship? Career experts think so. According to the Small Business Administration, military veterans are almost twice as likely as non-veterans to start their own business, but their unemployment rate stands at 6.7 percent as of February, and has been consistently higher than the national average.
Marketplace – Eaten at the Olive Garden lately? You probably thought more about the bread sticks than who owns the building — fair enough. However, Darden Restaurants, which owns the Olive Garden, Long Horn Steakhouse and some other chains, announced Tuesday that it’s going to spin off its real estate into something called a REIT — a real estate investment trust — and then lease the properties back.
UConn Today – Nearly 4 billion pounds of carpet are discarded every year in the U.S. Now, researchers from the UConn School of Engineering and School of Business are working together to figure out a way to make good use of all that waste.
New Behavioral Lab Expected to Fuel Surge in Research at UConn
Marketing Professor David Norton has a theory he just can’t wait to test, and it involves two things most people love: coffee and their own names.
“One idea that I’m currently pursuing is whether having the name on your morning coffee cup spelled incorrectly can impact your evaluation of that cup of coffee,” Norton said. “Essentially, the idea is that we like ourselves, and pretty much anything associated with ourselves, so when we are reminded about “me” we get positive feelings toward the object that does the reminding.”Continue Reading
Nobel Prize Winner Shares Business Wisdom at Commencement
Working in business is a noble profession, and its success should be measured not exclusively by profit but in helping others meet their goals.
That was the wisdom shared by undergraduate Commencement speaker Robert J. Shiller, a Yale University professor and the winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
Shiller discussed the perceived contradiction between profit and corporate benevolence. But that need not be the case, he said, urging the new graduates to conduct themselves with personal and professional integrity and to never lose sight of the communities they serve.Continue Reading
Fairfield County Business Journal – For the second consecutive year, accounting firm Citrin Cooperman gathered a panel of CEOs to UConn Stamford’s General Re Auditorium — filling it again with an audience of 200 — for a give-and-take with Mark Fagan, managing partner at the firm.
The questions were designed to plumb the CEOs’ successes and harvest their anecdotes. The CEOs responded with unguarded responses that ran from whimsy — “I always wanted to be a ballerina” — to horror: “When you hit the water at 74 mph it’s like hitting cement.”
Pictured, L to R: Anne Mulcahy, Tom Kallish, and Denis Nayden
Three Outstanding CEOs Share Business Insight, Success at ‘CEO Evolution’ Program in Stamford
Be a coach, be a leader, be a taskmaster—but don’t ever be a jerk.
Establish a strong network, but if you need additional help, reach out and ask for it. Even strangers can be strong allies.
Don’t plan your career path so rigidly that you miss out on new and amazing opportunities that can enhance your future in ways you never imagined.
That was some of the advice that three exceptional CEOs shared at the second annual “CEO Evolution’’ June 15 at the University of Connecticut’s Stamford campus. The program, attended by almost 200, was presented by Citrin Cooperman, the University of Connecticut School of Business and the Fairfield County Business Journal.Continue Reading
Fortune – Do the millions that large companies spend on annual audits actually provide the information investors need and are paying for? And are the earnings reports that companies produce trustworthy? If recent events offer any indication, the answer to both questions is likely a resounding no.