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.
Los Angeles Times – It’s a question I encounter frequently when I discuss healthcare with conservatives, particularly after I note that I have a chronic and costly preexisting condition, Type 1 diabetes.
Brian Paganini ’03, vice president and managing director of Quantum Biopower, was honored by the Hartford Business Journal as a “40 Under Forty” award recipient earlier this month. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
Alumnus Brian Paganini ’03 Designed, Runs State’s First Food Waste-to-Energy Facility
When a truck carrying 78,000 pounds of frozen chicken crashed on I-91 in Meriden, Conn., last summer, the food was deemed unsafe to eat and had to be destroyed.
A year prior, the chicken would probably have been incinerated. Continue Reading
Vasa, the world’s only preserved 17th century ship. (Brendan Mulcahey/UConn School of Business)
This past week I began my academic classes and visited the London Aquarium. However, this was the least exciting part of my week because this past weekend a group of UConn students decided to head up to Stockholm. Continue Reading
Greewich Time – The reinsurers figure out how to cover their losses long before the storms hit.
Amid an exceptionally active Atlantic hurricane season, reinsurance firms in Stamford and elsewhere are tracking the tempests with concern, but not much surprise. Based on decades of experience, many reinsurers have built operations that can cumulatively pay out billions in claims from hurricanes like Harvey and Irma without jeopardizing their fiscal security.
University at Buffalo – For grocery retailers, the tried-and-true strategy of deep discount promotions is a successful one, according to a new study from the University at Buffalo School of Management.
LIMRA – LIMRA today announced it has established a Center of Excellence for Predictive Modeling and Data Analytics. LIMRA has hired Vikram Kamath to be the Center’s director.
Kane County Chronicle – A Farmingdale-based startup is bringing infusion services to rural locations and smaller health-care facilities to spare patients the hassle and extra cost of having to travel far from home.
Henry Chen ’15 MSFRM, Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young, speaks at the first annual International Risk Conference (Katherine Ruiz/UConn School of Business)
Industry Experts, Alumni, Prospective Students Attend UConn’s First International Risk Management Conference in Shanghai
In an effort to expand and reinforce the international reputation of the School of Business, especially its finance programs, UConn held its first International Risk Management Conference in Shanghai, China, on Aug. 11. Continue Reading
Fierce Healthcare – As the information blocking debate rages on, one researcher is advocating for an unorthodox approach: Allow vendors and providers to charge fees for managing and exchanging health data.
EHR Intelligence – The author of a new editorial on the Health Affairs Blog asserted that federal regulations HIPAA and HITECH— not EHR companies — are responsible for limiting interoperability improvements and obstructing health data exchange.