Introduction
Before you read this article, “Do you accept my cookies”? Chances are, you’ve clicked “accept” on numerous cookie pop-ups over the past few weeks without fully understanding why. Cookies have become so ubiquitous now that you can hardly visit any site for the first time without getting those familiar pop ups seeking for your approval.
But why do websites ask for permission to use cookies in the first place? What would happen if they just used them without asking? And if you’re building a website yourself, what do you need to know? Let’s dive into the world of cookies, privacy laws, and what it all means for both users and website owners.
What are web cookies?
Let’s go over what cookies actually are: Web cookies are small text files that websites store on your device to remember information about you and your browsing activity. They are used to personalize your online experience, such as remembering login information or items in a shopping cart, and to make websites more user-friendly.
The image below shows how cookies actually look like when viewed with your browser’s DevTools
Source: Chrome for Developers
How cookies are stored on your device?
When you visit some websites, they sends cookies to your browser, which stores them on your device. Then on subsequent visits, your browser returns the cookie to the server, allowing it to recognize you and personalize your experience.
Source: O’Reilly Media
If that’s it and cookies are so harmless, why the constant consent requests?
The Legal Framework Behind Cookie Consent
The cookie consent requirement isn’t just a courtesy. It’s mandated by law, particularly by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and similar privacy regulations around the world. These laws require websites to obtain your explicit consent before storing certain types of cookies on your device.
Source: Futuretheory
It’s important to note that not all cookies require consent. Strictly necessary cookies, such as those that keep you logged into a website or remember items in your shopping cart, are generally exempt. The consent requirement primarily applies to tracking and advertising cookies, analytics cookies that monitor your behavior, and third-party cookies from external services.
The Consequences of Non-Compliance
So what happens if a website simply ignores these requirements and uses cookies without permission? The consequences can be severe. Under GDPR, companies can face fines of up to €20 million or 4% of their global annual revenue, whichever is higher. Beyond regulatory fines, companies also risk lawsuits from privacy regulators and class action lawsuits from users.
Tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Meta have collectively been fined hundreds of millions of euros for cookie violations. The reality is that before these privacy laws existed, websites did exactly what many of us might prefer: they simply used cookies without asking. The annoying banners we see today are the direct result of regulations attempting to give users control over their personal data.
How Tracking Cookies Actually Work
To understand why these laws exist, it helps to see concrete examples of what these cookies actually do.
Tracking and Advertising Cookies
Consider the Facebook Pixel. When you visit an online store, Facebook places a cookie on your device that tracks which products you view. Later, when you’re scrolling through Instagram, you suddenly see ads for those exact products. That cookie has followed you from the store to Facebook’s platforms, creating a connection between your browsing behavior and the ads you see.
Google Ads operates similarly through retargeting. Browse vacation rentals in Hawaii without booking, and you’ll likely see Hawaii rental ads following you across random blogs, news sites, and YouTube for the next week. One cookie tracking you across all these different websites.
Analytics Cookies
Analytics tools like Google Analytics track far more than just page views. They monitor how long you spend reading articles, which links you click, what device you’re using, and whether you’re a returning visitor. Over time, they build a detailed profile of your behavior that website owners use to optimize their content strategy.
Heatmap tools like Hotjar take this even further, recording where your mouse moves, what you click, and how far you scroll down a page. Some can even record your actual browsing session like a video replay.
Third-Party Cookies
Perhaps most surprisingly, even elements you don’t interact with can track you. That innocent “Share on X” button isn’t just a button. It allows X to know you visited that page, even if you never click it. Embedded YouTube videos let Google track every page where you watched a video, building a comprehensive profile of your interests across the entire web. Even “Sign in with Google” or “Sign in with Facebook” buttons can track which sites you visit, whether or not you use them to log in.
The fundamental issue is that these cookies allow companies to follow you across the internet and build detailed profiles about your interests, shopping habits, and online behavior, often without you having any awareness it’s happening.
The image below illustrates the difference between first party and third party cookies
Source: Kwanzoo
What Website Owners Need to Know
If you’re building a website, understanding your responsibilities around cookies is crucial. The moment you include elements like Google Sign-In buttons, embedded YouTube videos, or similar third-party services, you become responsible for the cookies they place on your visitors’ devices. Even though you didn’t create those cookies, they’re on your website, and you need to get consent.
Implementation Options
You have several approaches to handle this properly. The most common is implementing a cookie consent banner using tools like CookieBot, OneTrust, or similar services. These present users with clear options before any tracking cookies are loaded.
An increasingly popular alternative is using click-to-load placeholders. Instead of auto-loading a YouTube video (which immediately places cookies), you show a placeholder image. The video and its associated cookies only load when the user actively clicks to watch it. This approach is less intrusive and provides implicit consent through user action.
You can also explore privacy-focused alternatives, such as YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode (using the youtube-nocookie.com domain), self-hosting videos instead of using YouTube, or implementing privacy-focused authentication methods instead of relying on Google or Facebook.
The Reality of Compliance
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: many smaller websites don’t implement cookie consent properly and technically violate GDPR. While enforcement typically focuses on larger companies with deeper pockets, the legal requirement applies to everyone operating in the EU or serving EU visitors. If you’re building a website for public use, especially if you expect international traffic, implementing a proper cookie consent solution is the safest and most ethical approach.
Other Important Cookie Considerations
Cookie Lifespan
Cookies aren’t all created equal in terms of how long they stick around. Session cookies disappear the moment you close your browser, which is why you might need to log back into a website after closing and reopening your browser. Persistent cookies, however, can remain on your device for months or even years. This is why you might see ads for something you searched for weeks ago — those tracking cookies are still there, quietly doing their job.
The Changing Landscape of Third-Party Cookies
The distinction between first-party and third-party cookies matters more than ever. First-party cookies are set by the website you’re actually visiting and are generally less controversial. Third-party cookies, set by external domains like ad networks, are the primary tracking mechanism that has raised privacy concerns.
Major browsers are responding to these concerns. Safari and Firefox already block third-party cookies by default, and Google Chrome is in the process of phasing them out entirely. This represents a seismic shift in how online tracking works.
Taking Control of Your Cookies
As a user, you’re not powerless. Every major browser allows you to view exactly what cookies are stored on your device, see what data they contain, and delete them individually or all at once. You can find these options in your browser’s privacy settings, and it’s surprisingly revealing to see just how many tracking cookies accumulate during normal browsing.
Cookie Walls and Consent
You may have encountered websites that present what’s known as a “cookie wall”: accept cookies or you can’t use the site. In the EU, this practice exists in a legal gray area. Many regulators consider it non-compliant because true consent must be freely given, not coerced by blocking access to content.
The Future of Tracking
It’s worth noting that cookies themselves aren’t inherently problematic. They enable genuinely useful features like staying logged in, remembering your preferences, and keeping items in your shopping cart. The controversy specifically surrounds tracking cookies that follow you around the internet without providing clear benefits to you.
However, as cookies face increasing restrictions, tracking isn’t simply disappearing. Companies are developing “cookieless tracking” methods, including browser fingerprinting and server-side tracking techniques. The tools may evolve, but the fundamental tension between user privacy and data-driven business models continues.
Conclusion
Cookie consent banners may be annoying, but they represent an important shift in how we think about online privacy. They’re a visible reminder that our browsing behavior is valuable data, and that we have a right to control who collects it and how it’s used.
For internet users, understanding cookies helps you make informed decisions about your privacy. You can choose which cookies to accept, regularly clear tracking cookies, or use privacy-focused browsers and extensions to limit tracking.
For website owners and developers, proper cookie consent isn’t just about legal compliance. It’s about respecting your visitors and being transparent about how their data is collected and used. Yes, implementing cookie consent adds complexity to your website, but it’s the right thing to do in an era where privacy concerns are more pressing than ever.
The conversation around cookies and privacy is far from over. As technology evolves and regulations adapt, we’ll continue to see changes in how websites track users and how users protect their privacy. But the fundamental principle remains: people have a right to know what data is being collected about them and to have meaningful control over that collection.
The next time you see a cookie banner, you’ll know exactly why it’s there and what’s at stake in that simple “Accept” or “Reject” decision.
Thank you for “accepting my cookies” and reading until the end.
Top comments (0)