Cookies Are Following You!

     I’m sure most, if not all of you, have had a cookie. There’s many different kinds, such as chocolate chip, oatmeal, sugar, and snicker doodles. But there’s 1 kind of cookie you can’t eat, and they’re computer cookies. It’s not a baked good, it’s a small piece of technology within your computer that remembers everything you do on your computer. The cookie is like the brain of your computer, it remembers everything you look up, buy, and post. These cookies can sometimes be helpful when you forget your password to websites, but they’re always watching you too(3). They collect all of your information based off of what you put online.

Figure 1: Cookies follow you! (4)

   
  You should always search, and use your computer in a safe way. Facebook is a very popular social media platform which has over 1.35 billion users, that's more people than live in China(1)! What may sound like a fun way to meet friends around the world, or to connect to old family, and friends has turned into a really scary thing. Those cookies I mentioned before (not the edible ones), remember everything about you, and can get information from your Facebook page. By having the cookies follow you, they’ll know the basics about you. Such as your gender, perhaps your age, and the things you’re interested in (2). There's people who run ads online, and they are like the people at the malls who try to sell you stuff at the little stands outside of stores. If they’re selling hair straighteners, they’re not going to go to an old bald man and try to sell it to him. But if a young woman walks by with long, curly, hair, they’ll try to sell it to her instead. This is because they need to sell based off of things you’ll most likely be interested in. Many, almost all websites, will pay to have cookies track you so they can advertise to you based on what you like (2).  Facebook pays to have these cookies follow you while you search the web, to make advertisements for you based on what you’ve searched (3). Kind of creepy, right? How many times have you went onto a clothing website and had to make an account to shop, so you click “Login with Facebook”? I do this all the time without even thinking. When you log into Facebook the following time, you may notice something weird. That clothing store is being advertised all over your page. Coincidental? Not at all. Those cookies followed you from the Facebook login, and now they know you like the certain clothes you bought from that website, and now you’ll always be bombarded with these ads for those clothes (2). These cookies will be bought from websites, and used to advertise (2). These advertisement companies have spent a lot of time, and money trying to make sure they'll be successful in getting your money and advertising to you personally. Facebook is not the only website that does this. You should always be careful when you’re online.

Figure 2: It's important to clean out those cookies (5).

     There are a few ways in which you can avoid falling for these ads, and you can do so by deleting the cookies off your computer. Although this is not going to guarantee that companies won’t still follow you, it can help. When going online, you should be sure to not put any personal information online, because it will be remembered forever. You should always be careful, and get your parents’ permission before searching for things online. They’ll know what kind of things can be dangerous and they’ll make sure you’re staying safe online!

For more very usual information on how cookies work, and things that can be done to protect yourself, "click here" to watch this fun video that explains it very simply.- Click here! 

References- 

1.) Dewey, C. (2014, October 29) Almost as many people use Facebook as live in the entire country of China. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/29/almost-as-many-people-use-facebook-as-live-in-the-entire-country-of-china/ 

2.) Tsuei, C. (2010, July 30). How advertisers use cookies to track you [Video File]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/12204858 

3.) Acohido, B. (2011, November 16). Facebook tracking is under scrutiny [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2011-11-15/facebook-privacy-tracking-data/51225112/1
4.) Bailey, D. "Cookie Monster" Cartoon. Getty Images. n.d.
5.) "Ezeebuxs" Cartoon, Retrieved from http://www.ezeebuxs.com/help-clearing-cookies/