A cookie is a technology for remembering information between webpages. Because of cookies, your web browser can remember you are logged in, or have visited a site before, or what your personal preferences are. In reality, a cookie is a small text file which is stored by the user’s browser. The cookie only contains data, not code, so it can’t contain a virus or spyware. This doesn’t mean that all cookies are harmless in intent, but they can only ever store information. A cookie remembers information about a specific website, for example. fontsize=large This information is restricted to a specific domain, e.g. silktide.com. The domain prevents other websites from accessing each other’s cookies. However there are ways that websites can share information as we’ll see.

It is designed to help you comply with the hideous EU Cookie Law and not make you want to kill yourself in the process.