Cookie categories classify the different types of cookies used by websites based on their purpose and functionality. Understanding these categories helps you make informed decisions when you consent to or manage your cookie preferences on a website.
Essential or necessary cookies are the first category. These are important for the basic functioning of the website, such as keeping you logged in or storing items in your shopping cart.
You’ll find that these cookies are typically exempt from the requirement of consent because they are fundamental to the website’s operation.
Next, there are performance cookies, which collect information about how you use a website. For example, they might track which pages you visit most often or if you get error messages from web pages.
This data is used to improve the website’s performance and your experience as a user.
Functional cookies remember choices you make, like your user name, language, or the region you are in, enhancing your personal experience on the website.
These cookies make the site more personal and might be used to provide services you have asked for, like watching a video or commenting on a blog.
Targeting or advertising cookies are used to deliver adverts that are more relevant to you and your interests.
They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement and help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.
Websites might use these cookies to remember that you have visited a website, and this information could be shared with other organizations, such as advertisers.
Lastly, analytics cookies collect information about your browsing habits to make advertising more relevant to you and your interests. They are often linked to site functionality provided by the other organization.
By classifying cookies into these categories, websites can offer you clearer choices about what you’re agreeing to when you accept their use of cookies.
This categorization becomes particularly important in the context of privacy regulations that require websites to obtain informed consent from users before any non-essential cookies are used.
Being familiar with these categories allows you to customize your browsing experience according to your preferences and privacy concerns.
