Cookie? Proxy? Cache? #1
A simple explanation of browser related terms you use behind the scene.
Even if you are not familiar with IT, most of you have ever heard about cookie, proxy, cache. For example:
“Remove cookies and access to the log-in page, then type another user ID an PW.”
“You must configure proxy to add that website to white list.”
“The problem is caused by caches, you should clear them and try to load again.”
From this article on, let’s see what those terms are and what they work, and finally let the post reach some related topics.
Keywords
- Cookie #1
- Proxy #2
- Cache #3
What are Cookies?
Cookie is introduced by Netscape in 1984. Roughly speaking, cookies are to store some data and save them in your browser instead of the server. A cookie itself is just a text file. Information stored in cookies is like your ID and PW for a specific website( i.e. Facebook, Google) or preference settings(language, layouts, etc…).
Without cookies, you’ll have to fill up log-in form every time you open a new tab because HTTP requests(signal sent when you open a page or click a button, etc…) are stateless — they can’t remember contents of requests in the past — .
Is it dangerous?
The answer is no, at least a cookie itself is just a text (or data record) and it won’t do you harm. But it may feel you bad if you know some websites use cookies to track your browsing data and take advantage of them to push ads more effectively. For those who need a more reliable comment, I quote from lifewire:
The easiest answer is that cookies, in and of themselves, are completely harmless. However, some websites and search engines use them to track users as they browse the web, collecting highly personal information and often surreptitiously transferring that information to other websites without permission or warning. This is why we often hear about web cookies in the news.
Where are cookies stored?
If you are using Mac and Chrome, you can find your cookies in
# replace 'USER_NAME' with your actual user name
/Users/USER_NAME/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/default/# you'll find 'Cookies' file there
Cookies file is a sql database, so you need to install some sql manager to inspect the actual data.
Data table looks like this,
- host_key: the website where a cookie is provided and can be accessed
- name: name of a cookie
- path: a minimal path after the domain to return a cookie
- encrypted_value: encrypted content
In my case, I have 3,257 cookies in total, which I have no idea if this is huge or not. In detail, I have multiple cookies for one website, such as 9 for Youtube, 12 for Facebook, 37 for Airbnb.
You can see how many cookies are used in a specific website by clicking ‘lock’ icon in the url (for Chrome).
Protect your personal data
As I mentioned cookies themselves are useful for better browsing experiences. However, you might want to know the way to protect your browsing track from being exposed more than you need.
There is a Chrome-extension for that, named ‘Privacy Badger’. Just add that if you want!
