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What is that cookie for?  |  Manage cookies in browsers

Capturing the cookies:

How do you find which cookies are available on the website(s)?

  1. Right-click anywhere on the page
  2. Click inspect In Chrome and Opera : Navigate to the Application tab. You find the cookies in the Cookies session. In Firefox: Navigate to the Storage tab and the Cookies session
  3. See and take notes of every single cookie name and domain in case the domain is different from the website you are visiting
  4. After you’ve completed these steps you can start researching what each cookie is for. Check them individually if you think something looks suspicious

    (Hover over to enlarge the image)
    An easier way to do this, in Chrome and Firefox, press F12  F12 key

Another and easier way to find the websites cookies is:
  1. Click or right-click on the icon the far left of the browser's URL.
    The symbols that are usually look like this Security logo or perhaps Security logo. And sometimes they looks like, Security logo
  2. In Microsoft Edge its also the left side, but the look icon looks like,  Security HTTPS
  3. In Microsoft Explorer it is on the right side instead,
  4. There you get your information

Don't forget that there are plenty of software that scans the data more in depth, what's gathered about you, not just cookies but everything about history and how to use the internet etc. They can also help you with some adware and spyware, and it may be very good to clear the data that your softwares collects as well! You have, Advanced SystemCare, Glarys Utilities etc.

More about the Padlocks':

What, on the other hand, is classified and will be classified as "dangerous" is:  warning Google says about this: "Not secure: Proceed with caution. Something is severely wrong with the privacy of this site’s connection. Someone might be able to see the information you send or get through this site." [...]. (Google FAQ).

But we do not know and nobody really knows how Google etc. will rank http vs. https in the future. It's possible that all non-https pages will be "dangerous". in Google's eyes... Perhaps all http pages will be penalized with this alert sign? You decide. But keep this in mind if that happens, because everyone cannot afford to update maybe upward one hundred sites with SSL certificate.

When the padlook look like this, in Chrome Security logo (but sometimes even in Firefox). Google says: "The site isn't using a private connection. Someone might be able to see or change the information you send or get through this site. On some sites, you can visit a more secure version of the page: Select the address bar. Delete http://, and enter https:// instead."

And in Firefox icon padlock green+warning . If this turns out, that means that the page is https, Mozilla Firefox says itself: ."Parts of this page are not secure (such as images)." This does not necessarily mean that the page is unsure, but it can be anything from an old or badly encoded WordPress theme or plugin, to an image referring to facebook or flickr etc. Again, you decide.

Example:

We go back to the Inspector,


If we press F12 again so we get the Inspector Tool, we can easily see if there are any errors on the page and what they may depend on. In the top right corner they are displayed. In this case there are 3 errors and 2 warnings. If we now click on the Console tab then we can see what they are. Probably, in this case, something is wrong with the WordPress theme, and the errors also seem to be related to a javascript, "jsev3.min ..." etc.

As mentioned above, "Parts of this page are not secure (such as images)." It may be one of the most common errors, it is so called Mixed Content, but it can also be broken issues. These errors are caused by sources (images, scripts, or stylesheets) when they are still loading using the insecure HTTP protocol in the URL's. Yes, so little can affect. Mostly of the incorrect URL's will be images, files, embeds, and other data stored in your WordPress database.

So the errors and uncertainties of web browsers need not mean that the page itself is insecure. Any decent WordPress themes and plugin following WordPress coding standards will not cause mixed content errors.

Note. If you get these issue, "Mixed Content", so there's a plugin Really Simple SSL, that can fix this! This plugin will take care of your SSL connection including the Mixed Content errors. What the plugin does behind the scenes is:

  • It check SSL certificate

  • It sets up your WordPress to use https in URL's

  • It sets up redirects from HTTP to HTTPs

  • and it looks for URL's in your content still loading from insecure HTTP sources and attempt to fix them.

Note: The plugin attempts to fix mixed content errors by using an output buffering technique. And it can have a negative performance impact because it’s replacing content on the site as the page is being loaded. But this impact is only been on the first-page load, and does not get so noticeable if you are using a caching plugin.

The plugin might say you can keep SSL and safely deactivate the plugin, but that is not 100% true. I think the best is to keep the plugin active because deactivating the plugin will bring back your mixed content errors.

What is that cookie for?

Cookies have span> very weird names and sometimes it is not clear what they are for just by looking at the cookie name.

If you are not sure what a cookie is for you need to search for the name and see if you can relate a cookie to a specific service.

For instance, some systems session cookies do not have a certain name, instead cookie names are generated randomly, like a hash value, eg: 2d810b45f776859348ec319708ce2e05 (32 symbols of alphanumeric characters).

 

GDPR does not focus on cookies and digital communications. Main goal of GDPR is to regulate how personal information is collected, stored and erased. The e-Privacy Regulation isn’t just about cookies, it concerns electronic communications and the right of confidentiality, data/privacy protection and more.

 

In fact, cookies are mentioned in GDPR only once:
(30): "Natural persons may be associated with online identifiers […] such as internet protocol addresses, cookie identifiers or other identifiers […]. This may leave traces which, in particular when combined with unique identifiers and other information received by the servers, may be used to create profiles of the natural persons and identify them."

 

In other words: when cookies can identify an individual, it is considered personal data.

 

Important note - not all cookies are considered as personal data. If you have a simple website, cookies that set are not used to identify a person and does not collect any personal information from visitors - there is a high chance you do not need to worry about GDPR at all.

 

Regulation vs Directive It is important to understand difference between directive and regulation.

 

Directive is a legal act of the European Union, which requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. Regulations have binding legal force throughout every Member State and enter into force on a set date in all the Member States. Regulation is same for all member states, while with e-Privacy Directive was created as a set of rules for every Members State to create its own laws. Previously we had Directives, now we are starting to follow Regulations.

 

ePR* is specifically designed to explain how privacy and cookies should work together.

*(ePR stands for e-Privacy Regulation: a regulation for electronic communications and the right of confidentiality).      ThunderBusiness scroll up

 

Manage cookies in browsers?

Computer:

in Google Chrome:

  • Clear and delete cookies:

If you remove cookies, you'll be signed out of websites and your saved preferences could be deleted.

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, click More More and then Settings.
  3. At the bottom, click Advanced.
  4. Under "Privacy and security," click Content settings.
  5. Click Cookies.
  6. Under "All cookies and site data," click Remove all.
  7. Confirm by clicking Clear all.
Delete cookies from a site
  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, click More More and then Settings.
  3. At the bottom, click Advanced.
  4. Under "Privacy and security," click Content settings.
  5. Click Cookies.
  6. Under "All cookies and site data," search for the website's name.
  7. To the right of the site, click Remove Remove.
Delete cookies from a period of time
  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, click More More.
  3. Click More tools and then Clear browsing data.
  4. At the top, click the dropdown next to "Clear the following items from."
  5. Choose a time period, such as the past hour or the past day.
  6. Check "Cookies and other site data." Uncheck all the other items.
  7. Click Clear browsing data.

You can allow or block cookies saved by websites.

Note: If you don't allow sites to save cookies, most sites that require you to sign in won't work.

Allow or block cookies by default
  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, click More More and then Settings.
  3. At the bottom, click Advanced.
  4. Under "Privacy and security," click Content settings.
  5. Click Cookies.
  6. Turn Allow sites to save and read cookie data on or off.

Block cookies from other sites

You can allow cookies from the site you visit, while blocking cookies from other sites that own ads or images on the webpage. To block these third-party cookies, turn on Block third-party cookies.

All cookies and site data from other sites will be blocked, even if the site is allowed on your exceptions list.

Allow or block cookies for a specific site

If you allow cookies by default, you can still block them for a certain site.

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, click More More and then Settings.
  3. At the bottom, click Advanced.
  4. Under "Privacy and security," click Content settings.
  5. Click Cookies.
  6. Next to "Block," "Clear on exit," or "Allow," click Add.
  7. Enter the web address.
    • To create an exception for an entire domain, insert [*.] before the domain name. For example, [*.]google.com will match drive.google.com and calendar.google.com.
    • You can also put an IP address or a web address that doesn't start with http://.
  8. Click Add.

To remove an exception you don't want any more, to the right of the website, click More More and then Remove.

Note: If you’re using your Chromebook at work or school, you might not be able to change this setting. For more help, contact your administrator.

Delete cookies after you close Chrome

You can let sites remember information during your browsing session, but automatically delete the cookies when you quit Chrome.

  1. On your computer, open Google Chrome.
  2. At the top right, click More More and then Settings.
  3. At the bottom, click Advanced.
  4. Under "Privacy and security," click Content settings.
  5. Click Cookies.
  6. Turn on Keep local data only until you quit your browser.

Note. You clear the browsing data and the cache memory in the same menu.

in Mozilla Firefox:

    Note. Cookies are enabled by default in Firefox

    To check or change your settings:

    1. Click the menu button Fx57Menu and choose Options.
    2. Select the Privacy & Security panel and go to the Cookies and Site Data section.
    3. Select Accept cookies and site data from websites (recommended) to enable cookies. To disable cookies, select Block cookies and site data (may cause websites to break).
      Fx60Settings-CookiesAndSiteData
    4. Choose how long cookies are allowed to be stored:
      • Keep until:
        they expire: Each cookie will be removed when it reaches its expiration date, which is set by the site that sent the cookie.
        I close Firefox: The cookies that are stored on your computer will be removed when Firefox is closed.
    5. Close the about:preferences page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.

in Apple Safari:

On the toolbar, click "Safari" and choose "Preferences":

Choose preferences in safari

On the Preferences menu, choose "Security":

Select security from the preferences menu

On the Security menu, you'll see three radio buttons referring to cookies:

Change the cookies radio button

Choose either to allow all cookies, or to allow cookies for sites you navigate to.

Mobile:

  • Clear all cookies

Clear all cookies

If you remove cookies, you'll be signed out of websites and your saved preferences could be deleted.

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Chrome app Chrome.
  2. To the right of the address bar, tap More More and then Settings.
  3. Tap Privacy and then Clear browsing data.
  4. Choose a time range, like Last hour or All time.
  5. Check "Cookies and site data." Uncheck all the other items.
  6. Tap Clear data.
Allow or block cookies

You can allow or block cookies saved by websites.

Note: If you don't allow sites to save cookies, most sites that require you to sign in won't work.

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Chrome app Chrome.
  2. To the right of the address bar, tap More More and then Settings.
  3. Tap Site settings and then Cookies.
  4. Turn Cookies on or off.
  5. Optional: Choose to allow third-party cookies.

You can allow cookies from the site you visit, while blocking cookies from other sites that own ads or images on the webpage. To block these third-party cookies, uncheck the box next to "Allow third-party cookies."
All cookies and site data from other sites will be blocked, even if the site is allowed on your exceptions list.

Clear all cookies

If you remove cookies, you'll be signed out of websites and your saved preferences could be deleted.

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Chrome app Chrome.
  2. At the top right, tap More More and then Settings.
  3. Tap Privacy and then Clear browsing data.
  4. Check "Cookies, Site Data." Uncheck all the other items.
  5. Tap Clear Browsing Data.
  6. Confirm by tapping Clear Browsing Data.
  7. Tap Done. 

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