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.
Lauren Carney, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Population Science and Policy, Center for Behavioral Oncology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Sharon Lee, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Lucy Finkelstein-Fox, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow and Psychology Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital
Ian A. Gutierrez, Ph.D., Research Psychologist at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
Login George, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Rutgers University
Dalnim Cho, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Health Disparities Research, Division of OVP, Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Kristen E. Riley, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University
Amy E. Hale, Ph.D., Attending Psychologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School
Jennifer H. Wortmann, Ph.D., Psychologist/Training Expert of the Mental Health and Chaplaincy Program of the Veterans Affairs MIRECC/CoE
Jennifer Schuster Wachen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine
Mary Alice Mills, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist at National Center for PTSD and Boston University School of Medicine
Donald Edmondson, Ph.D., Director of Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Associate Professor of Behavioral Medicine at Columbia University Department of Medicine
(L to R) Lucy Finkelstein-Fox, Kristen Riley, Dr. Park, and Sharon Lee at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in New Orleans, LA.
