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.
Hartford is among the Top 5 cities that techies are relocating to in the wake of the global pandemic. Despite rumors that Austin and Miami are luring tech workers, Inc.com is reporting that Madison, Wisc., Cleveland, Sacramento, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Hartford are “winning the war” to attract those fleeing the traditional big-city tech hubs.Continue Reading
UConn Today – UConn School of Business professor David Bergman won $2.5 million this week in a fantasy football competition by using some of the data analytics knowledge and techniques he teaches students.
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Evan Rawley, an exceptional scholar and enthusiastic entrepreneurship mentor, has joined the School of Business faculty as an associate professor of management and entrepreneurship.
Greg Reilly, the head of the management department, said Rawley will be a tremendous asset to the school.Continue Reading
UConn Today -Sales of ‘Merican Mule premium cocktail have skyrocketed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, fueling the good spirits of its UConn alumnus co-founder.
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Professor Emerita Susan Spiggle, pictured above, teaches a course in 2018. Spiggle recently made a generous donation to the School of Business. (Contributed Photo)
For novice writers, it is often difficult to accept constructive criticism and develop a willingness to edit and repeatedly revise their work.
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Marketers often collect and analyze customer information that is easy to access and synthesize, but omit or gloss over the deeper and more valuable analytics that can foster a powerful competitive advantage for their corporations.Continue Reading
Curated CT provides products from a variety of local sources. Pictured above, is a sample from a previous month. (Contributed Photo)
For more than a decade, alumnus Donald Pendagast ’20 MBA, had been thinking about ways to introduce people to local, small food businesses that they might not try otherwise. In October, his idea came to fruition with the creation of Curated CT, a subscription food box featuring local delicacies, including cheese, coffee, chocolate and sometimes beer. The company is already turning a profit and donates some of its profits to a different local charity every month.Continue Reading
MIS partnered with PwC to bring this year’s MIS Case Competition into the virtual world. (istockimage.com)
For this year’s MIS Case Competition, students were tasked with analyzing the financial performance data for a fictional toy manufacturer and identifying cost saving and operational efficiency.Continue Reading
Professor Amy Dunbar, who has been described as an enormously talented, passionate, unyielding champion for her students, has been awarded UConn’s Alumni Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching.Continue Reading
This year’s JMP Discovery Summit challenged participants to build a model for a telecommunications company. UConn’s team took 1st place. (istockphoto.com)
For the second consecutive year, a team of UConn graduate students earned the first-place award in a national analytics competition. Their award-winning presentation addressed how a telecom company can analyze and utilize data to help retain existing customers.Continue Reading