What are web cookies? If you’re picturing the M&S ones that somehow always end up in the basket, we hate to disappoint. Web cookies have no chocolate chips, no crunch, and are nowhere near as satisfying. But they do come in different varieties, and just like the biscuit aisle, some are better for you than others.
What Are Web Cookies? The Basics
A web cookie is a tiny text file that a website saves onto your device when you visit. Think of it like a loyalty card that gets stamped every time you walk through the door. Next visit, the site already knows who you are, where you left off, and what you prefer.
So what are web cookies made of exactly? Each one is a tiny text file invented in 1994 by an engineer at Netscape who faced a simple but frustrating problem: websites have no built-in memory. Without them, your shopping basket would vanish the moment you clicked to a new page. Every visit would feel like the first. They solved that problem, and the web has relied on them ever since.
Each web cookie holds a small piece of data, like a user ID or a language preference, along with an expiry date. When you return to a site, your browser quietly sends those cookies back and the site picks up exactly where you left off. The ICO has a straightforward guide on this if you want to read further: read here.
The Four Flavours
Not all web cookies are the same. There are four main types you will come across, and understanding what each web cookie does makes it much easier to know what you are agreeing to.
Essential cookies keep the lights on. Login sessions, baskets, secure payments. You cannot opt out, and you would not want to. Without them the site simply does not work.
Functional cookies remember your preferences like language, region, or whether you prefer dark mode. Harmless and genuinely helpful.
Analytics cookies track how people move around a site so businesses can see what is working and what is not. The data is almost always anonymised and aggregated, so nothing is being traced back to you personally. Google has a useful breakdown of how their own analytics cookies work.
Marketing cookies are a different story. They build a profile of your browsing behaviour to serve you targeted adverts. Visit a shoe website on Monday and spend the rest of the week being followed around the internet by trainers. That is these. They are the ones worth pausing on before you click accept.
What Are Web Cookies Meaning for Your Business Legally?
Understanding what are web cookies from a legal standpoint is one thing. Knowing your legal obligations around them is another. The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations and the UK GDPR require you to tell visitors which cookies your site uses, get genuine consent before placing non-essential ones, and make opting out just as easy as opting in.
Pre-ticked boxes are not compliant. Hiding the reject option three clicks deep is not compliant. The ICO has issued fines for businesses that get this wrong, and beyond the legal risk there is a reputational one too. Customers notice when their privacy is treated as an afterthought.
This sits alongside broader cyber security considerations for your business. If you have not already, take a look at our guide to cyber security for small businesses to understand how cookie compliance fits into your wider data protection picture.
The Short Version
Most web cookies are doing exactly what they should, quietly and helpfully in the background. Marketing cookies deserve a second thought before you wave them through, and if you run a website, your cookie setup is worth a proper look.
Cookie compliance also connects directly to how well your business is protected online. Our cyber security services are built around helping businesses across Yorkshire and the North stay on the right side of exactly these kinds of issues: tomorrows-office.co.uk/cyber-security/
If you want to understand where your business stands from a compliance and digital security perspective, that is exactly what we are here for.
Get in touch at contact@tomoff.co.uk or call 0113 236 2626.
