# Web Cookies **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 21, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177 "2024-06-21T20:36:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/1 "2024-06-21T20:36:48Z")
I’m sure we all know about web cookies, Initially a “good” thing: "Hi! We’ve seen you before. (An implied ""we do not know your name / who you are, yet glad to see you again) and an unsaid perhaps we know your location or at least your ISP even if you’ve not subscribed/signed in/ explicit given us your email and perhaps a username u[ wish us. which was a thing you might do)… In Europe, for about 7 years, a website MUST inform you if you have provided any personal info. So called “GDPR” - and fair enough. Is it okay if we save in our database your email and perhaps your other PI personal info). Often is would be disclosed that would be some months or years. Myself, I previously only had only those phone look up presence till I started a Limited Company in the UK. Anonymity out the door. I signed up with LinkedIn and literally fuck the rest.Yet now a google on my name (not common) shows LinkedIn where I explicit say I live in the UK, yet I also still live on Long Island, NY. Yet now, via some law Parliament (?), the Hague (?) or Trump (?) passed, every fucking site I visit asks me if I’m okay with cookie storage. Some go further into details of what sort of cookies I’m okay wtth. This is a big fucking mess. As a web developer, I often track the sites (basically the ISP) of visitors and if there is some form of subscribing I will know your email address. Perhaps a username. I will clue you in that I am not really Coriiolanus. I have not given Straight Dope my credit card info and so far as I know SD has no fucking idea what my real name is other than I’m posting from the UK (or Best Korea via VPN). I reckon this “law” ii Europe and USA now? I do websites on both sides and this blind-sided me. I made money from GDPR assisstance. This is just pissing me off massively. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/2 "2024-06-21T23:48:13Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > I will clue you in that I am not really Coriiolanus. No, we all know you are actually Coriolanus! ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/3 "2024-06-22T21:42:20Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > Yet now, via some law Parliament (?), the Hague (?) or Trump (?) passed, every fucking site I visit asks me if I’m okay with cookie storage. Some go further into details of what sort of cookies I’m okay wtth. This is a big fucking mess. I hate this so much. I mean, does anyone ever actually say no to cookie storage? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/4 "2024-06-22T22:10:51Z")
What prompted this thread now? This has been going on for years. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/5 "2024-06-22T22:46:15Z")
> [@WalterBishop](#): > > I mean, does anyone ever actually say no to cookie storage? Cookie Monster’s landlord might have to set ground rules. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/6 "2024-06-22T23:09:27Z")
What, you think that Mr. Monster has the willpower to store them? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/7 "2024-06-22T23:16:07Z")
I’m sure it’s extremely short term storage. If somebody hasn’t written a program to clear out cookies from a system called Cookie Monster this is a missed opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/8 "2024-06-22T23:46:59Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I’m sure it’s extremely short term storage. [![](https://img.ifunny.co/images/004496c637273c44e5c0c36d5d0356a7b0453ba409e8c77a34f555106e3c745c_1.webp) ](https://img.ifunny.co/images/004496c637273c44e5c0c36d5d0356a7b0453ba409e8c77a34f555106e3c745c_1.webp) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/9 "2024-06-23T04:06:07Z")
That’s me every time I buy something. 😞 ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/10 "2024-06-23T19:03:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What prompted this thread now? This has been going on for years. Aye, yet now typically when you open a page your window has a grey overlay and the cookie question is a modal dialog placed somewhere on the screen. On a site like BBC or CNN you once could kind of move the modal off to the side and read some of an article without dealing with cookies. Now you MUST deal with the cookies and though I’ve not made a list, it ironically seems a return to the site doesn’t’ have a cookie for what you said the last time allowing you in. Not hard to do that so it may be happening less and less as we go on. As to “I don’t want you to save tracking cookies or any cookies whatsoever or such” - you are still free to deny (often by un-clicking a series of checkboxes) what you do or don’t want this site to do. An off-the-cuff analogy might be (for those of drinking age) going into a bar and up to your well known bartender and he asks for ID. “Eddie, I’m 35 and have been here 100 times” … “Sorry man, new rules. Oh, and fill out this form please.” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/11 "2024-06-23T19:20:14Z")
I have Chrome and Firefox plugins that auto-deny all these cookie popup interruptions. I recommend you look into this. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/12 "2024-06-23T19:28:55Z")
Does denying cookies change your experience with the websites? On a side note, if you went back in time and told 7-year-old me that I’d be having a serious conversation about denying cookies … ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/13 "2024-06-23T19:32:51Z")
In my experience, no. It’s just refusing to accept the hundreds of marketing-measurement service tags that have flooded the web in the last couple decades. First-party “necessary” cookies are accepted and the sites generally function as expected. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/14 "2024-06-23T19:36:14Z")
> [@WalterBishop](#): > > I mean, does anyone ever actually say no to cookie storage? I do every time. I used to go into my files and delete all cookies, but I don’t know where they’re stored these days. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/15 "2024-06-23T20:53:34Z")
Cookies are harmless. And necessary. Leave them alone. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/16 "2024-06-23T23:13:44Z")
I have Firefox set to delete all cookies (except for the few I have whitelisted) when it closes. ---
**Author:** ![cardinal\_fang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal_fang/32/15316_2.png) [@cardinal\_fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardinal_fang)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/17 "2024-06-23T23:27:56Z")
Can you recommend one (Firefox)? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/18 "2024-06-24T04:39:39Z")
I use “superagent” in both **[Chrome](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/superagent-automatic-cook/neooppigbkahgfdhbpbhcccgpimeaafi)** and **[Firefox](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/super-agent/).** I hesitate to “recommend” this because I’m not claiming it’s the best for you or will work for your specific configuration and/or use cases. I encourage you to do your own research and testing. But this is what I use, and it’s a starting point for you. ---
**Author:** ![cardinal\_fang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal_fang/32/15316_2.png) [@cardinal\_fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardinal_fang)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-cookies/1003177/19 "2024-06-24T05:43:00Z")
Will do. Thank you @Cervaise.