Deleting cookies off a shared or public computer can keep someone from seeing your web history and accessing your personal information. If you’re using a friend’s computer, or a device in a hotel or public library, you may not want to have any of your personal information saved.

Deleting your cookies can make your system run more efficiently. While this can help your overall internet experience, by allowing pages to load quickly, it can also slow down your system if you’ve accumulated too man. Every time you visit a new website, a cookie is created and stored onto your hard drive. Cookies allow websites to follow you around the internet and put ads in front of you that are deemed relevant to your interests. If you’re shopping for shoes online, and then go to read the news, you may notice an ad for the shoes you were just looking at on your news site. Websites can use this information to track your online activity. Cookies store information about the sites you visit, information you enter, and purchases you make. Personal information like usernames, passwords, and other commonly entered information can be accessed and used to steal your identity or commit fraud. Criminals can gain access to your browser’s cookies and the personal information stored within them. However, there are a few reasons why you might want to consider clearing cookies from your browser: Why Should You Delete Browser Cookies?Ī cookie by itself is not dangerous since it’s just a file containing information.

The browser cookie is what identifies you to a website, like a ticket identifies you to a coat check clerk. When you revisit that site, your cookie is retrieved and used to manage your internet experience like personalization, tracking, preferences, and login information. With cookies, when you visit a website, data is created about your unique experience and is stored in your browser. When you go to retrieve your coat, you show your ticket and get your coat back. You hand off your coat and receive a ticket that identifies you as the owner. Learn MoreĪ simple way to think about browser cookies is to compare it to coat check at a restaurant.

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