The definition of "tracking cookies" is not very far from the very definition of a cookie; They are a type of file that is installed on the user's computer when entering a web page for the first time and whose objective is to collect user data regarding the actions they perform on the web, which subpages they visit, how long they stay on them, what type of products or services you acquire through a specific web page, your browsing habits, your geographical location, etc.
In short, tracking cookies serve to collect different data about each user and, through its analysis, create user profiles that can later be used to segment users and provide more personalized advertising. For this reason, these cookies are commonly used by marketing companies, advertisers, social networks, statistical services, etc., that is, they are what are known as third-party cookies.
Why are there tracking cookies on my computer and what do they do?
All web pages generate cookies, some of them are their own and necessary for the proper functioning of the page itself or to make the browsing experience more comfortable, for example, those that save the login data, those that manage the cart of the purchase of an e-commerce, those of personalization that maintain the selected language…
But they also generate third-party cookies, including tracking cookies, which are responsible for recording user behavior within the web; how long you stay on it, what sections you visit, if you share content, if you click on any advertising banner, what other website you go to after leaving the current one, etc.
These tracking cookies are installed on the user's computer when there are third-party elements on the website they visit, such as social network sharing buttons, links to YouTube videos, chatbots or advertisements, to name a few examples.
Now, their presence does not mean that they can directly collect user data, since in EU countries, it is mandatory to have the consent of the interested parties for this, as we will see in the next point.
Tracking cookies and the GDPR
According to the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), if I have an online site, I must inform its visitors or users of the types of cookies on my website, what data they collect and their purpose, in addition to the origin of the cookies from third parties, such as site tracking .
But, and according to the cookie guide, informing is not enough, the GDPR also obliges me to collect the explicit consent of users to be able to use cookies, that is, users must be able to configure (activate / deactivate) cookies generated on my website, including tracking. To do this, you can use the cookie notice itself (some sites use a pop-up in which we can accept each category of cookie) or a separate page to carry out the configuration.
This consent must always be collected before establishing any cookie, prior information to the user, it must be registered and stored (it is proof that the necessary consent has been granted) and it must be revocable. The cookie policy is usually the right place to collect and offer all the information pertinent to own and third-party cookies present on the web.
Which third party entities provide the most tracking cookies?
You may be thinking that many third party entities (third parties) use tracking cookies, placing them on different web pages, but the truth is that the vast majority of these types of cookies come from the same companies.
According to a study carried out by Princeton University, Google, Facebook and Twitter are present in more than 10% of the million websites analyzed. This occurs because many of the tracking cookies from different domains actually belong to the same entity, as is the case with the cookies used by Google on other online sites; think of Analytics, which is basically present on any website that needs to carry out statistical analyzes of the behavior of the site and its users; but also YouTube, when a website embeds a video from this platform on its page.
How do I know which tracking cookies are in use on my website?
Knowing which tracking cookies (or any cookies for that matter) is in use on my website or any website you may visit is relatively easy.
On the one hand, we have the option of consulting the website's cookie policy (this for websites other than ours), which should detail which cookies are used, for what and who manages them.
Even so, we may miss some (especially if we embed certain links), so here is another method that you can use to discover which cookies, tracking and others, are used on a website. You can use this method both in Chrome and in Firefox or Edge (the steps are the same):
Enter the web page whose cookies you want to check and click with the right mouse button on the background. In the dropdown menu, click Inspect. Or press F12 to get to the window that will open on the right of the screen (or below if you use Firefox) earlier.
On this screen, you should look for the “Application” tab (“Storage” in Firefox). When you click on it, a list will appear, among which the “Cookies” section appears (under “storage”).
Click on the arrow next to “Cookies” to display the list of cookie source addresses (in fact, you will already be seeing which entity the cookies come from).
Choose one of those source addresses and you will be able to see what cookies the entity is using and the following information about it:
- cookie name
- cookie value
- Domain authorized to receive the cookie
- The path to send the cookie.
- The expiration date of the cookie.
- The size in bytes of the cookie.
- HTTP: if checked, indicates that the cookie should only be used over HTTP
- Secure: if checked, indicates that the cookie can only be sent via a secure server (HTTPS)
- SameSite is used to indicate whether the cookie is using the SameSite experimental attribute
- The priority indicates whether the cookie used
No comments yet