Web cookies, also known as Internet cookies or HTTP cookies are small pieces of information stored by the user’s web browser (e.g. Google Chrome or Internet Explorer) on its computer or device. They represent data used by websites to make each internet user’s navigation and experience more friendly.
Cookies store the information you previously entered on a website. For example, if you filled in your name, address, or credit card number on your favorite online store, that website will remember your information through cookies. This means that the next time you want to purchase something you won’t have to enter all your information again. Cookies are also used to remember the items added to your shopping cart so that they don’t get lost while the user is browsing other web pages. These are called first-party cookies.
Third-party cookies are used for keeping track of a user’s browsing activity and history and for analytics purposes.
These cookies store information that is later used not by the website you visited, but by a different website that had its own piece of code inserted into the website you actually visited (e.g. an advertising banner) or by search engines.
Since most of the third party cookies are nowadays used for ads and retargeting, more and more users are afraid that their personal information will end up being sold to advertising networks.
The constant updates on privacy laws and personal data policies have led to more and more users blocking third-party cookies. To address this, newer and safer tracking methods like cookieless tracking have been developed to ensure website analytics can still function effectively.
TWIPLA has implemented a cookieless tracking system that is not only more privacy-focused but also more accurate when it comes to tracking users since it can track cross-device. Instead of using cookies, the tracking is done through a script that sends out the information directly to an analytics server, so no data is stored on the user’s device.