Web cookies (cookies) are small blocks of data created by a web server when a user views a web page and placed on the user’s computer or other device by the user’s web browser. Cookies are placed on the device used to access the website and multiple cookies may be placed on a user’s device during a session.
Cookies serve useful and sometimes necessary functions on the website. They allow web servers to store status information (such as items added to a shopping cart in an online store) or track a user’s browsing activity (including clicking specific buttons, logging in, or recording history). They can also be used to store information that the user has previously entered into form fields such as names, addresses, passwords and credit card numbers for quicker reuse by the user.
