Cookies are defined by Cookiebot as “the memory of the Internet.” These are what companies use to remember you. Using these, companies can make a “profile” of you, which they use to personalize your browsing experience.
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Cookies themselves may not pose that much of a threat to us users, as they are just a bunch of plain text that contain no executable code within themselves. However, the danger lies in those who handle these cookies.
There have been cases of data breaches connected to cookies, which is where the anxiety stems from. In February 2015, a Yahoo data breach compromised data from over 32 million users. Hackers stole Yahoo’s code relating to cookies, which allowed the bad actors to piece together the cookies for all of those affected, without needing a password.
These so-called “forged cookies” included email addresses, full names, dates of birth, phone numbers, hashed passwords and security questions. In other words, all that was needed to commit identity theft.
So how do you keep yourself safe from the potential dangers of cookies? You do so by removing them from your computer. And how do you remove them? Popular Mechanics will teach you how over at their site. But if you don’t want to read their definitive guide, then I suggest that you do this frequently: clear your history and check “remove cookies.”
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Source: neatorama