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I’ve been browsing several websites that in their headers show messages like:
This site uses cookies to improve your navigation. By browsing the site you consent to its use.
It’s okay that cookies are stored on the user’s machine, but is it really necessary for these notices? Is there another reason behind it? I found almost nothing related on the Internet.
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As stated in the comments this is a law that involves the European Union. It is not required in other locations, but in all countries belonging to the EU, or for European Union users who access your website, it is important and necessary that you show the notice of the use of cookies.
For this site to work properly, sometimes we put small data files called cookies on your device. Most major sites do this too.
To Cookie Policy is designed to increase users' knowledge of how their information is being stored, managed and used through the use of cookies. In several cases it is also necessary to obtain the user’s consent, either through a button or checkbox.
You can see more on the subject here and here too in this related article from Google. You can see as an example the cookies policies page from Facebook and of Google.
Some interesting passages, translated:
What are cookies?
A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your computer or mobile device when you visit the website. It allows the site to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size, and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to continue inserting them every time you return to the site or navigate from one page to another.
How do we use cookies? Some of our pages use cookies to remember:
- Your display preferences, such as contrast color settings or font size
- If you have already responded to a search pop-up that asks you whether the content was useful or not (then you will not be prompted again)
- Whether you agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this website
- In addition, some embedded videos on our pages use a cookie to anonymously gather statistics on how you arrived and which videos you visited.
Cookies are also stored by Europa Analytics, the corporate service that measures the effectiveness and efficiency of the European Commission’s websites in EUROPE.
We use other cookies?
- Some of our pages or Subsites may use additional or different cookies than those described above. If so, the details of these will be provided on your specific cookie warning page. You may be asked by your agreement to store these cookies.
Very well explained, really did not know this law.
This law extends to LocalStorage and SessionStorage?
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To know why this kind of warning, you need to understand what cookies are capable of doing.
Cookies are a feature of web browsers that store small information on the computer so that websites can "remember" some information, such as logins, preferences and others.
However, advertising agencies and companies use it to track netizens in order to know their preferences, often commercial, which has led many anti-spyware programs to delete this type of cookies.
From time to time you can delete cookies, normal, the site will reset new, if you allow, every time you enter it, no stress, do even periodic cleaning.
However, there is a mechanism called "evercookie" which allows a website to store some information on the computer, allowing the user to always be tracked.
Six steps are required to remove an evercookie from Firefox. In Chrome, there are four. For Safari, on the Mac, a specific code has been created. Bleachbit cleaning software is able to erase evercookies from Internet Explorer. On some devices, with iPhone, deleting evercookie is a real war. Of the private browsing modes, only Safari completely prevents evercookie.
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That is a European law, unless mistaken.
– Inkeliz