A cookie is simply a technology for remembering something about you. Without cookies, a website is like a goldfish who loses its memory every time you visit a new page. Once you visit a new page, it doesn’t remember who you are. Now this can be a good and a bad thing. Without any memory, a website can’t do a lot of stuff. It can’t let you log in, because it forgets who you are. It can’t let you buy anything, because it forgets what you’re buying. But it also means it can’t track you. Some websites use cookies to remember what you do on their website, and to target ads at you. And some of those websites share their cookies, so that ads on one website know what you liked on another. This has scared a lot of people. Cookies aren’t automatically good or bad, but it’s worth understanding what you can do about them. You can turn them off completely, which is a bit like banning all music to prevent another Justin Bieber album. Many websites simply won’t work. A better option would be to turn off 3rd party cookies, which will stop most websites from sharing information about you. Some browsers – like Safari – do this automatically. And finally, you can take a deeper look into any websites which concern you. Most websites have policies that explain what they do, if you care to look. Well over 90% of websites use cookies. Cookies aren’t automatically good or bad, but it’s worth understanding what you can do about them. We recommend reading Osano’s explainer on how cookies work, if you’d like to learn more.
A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. First party cookies are cookies set by the website you’re visiting. Only that website can read them. In addition, a website might potentially use external services, which also set their own cookies, known as third-party cookies. Persistent cookies are cookies saved on your computer and that are not deleted automatically when you quit your browser, unlike a session cookie, which is deleted when you quit your browser. Every time you visit the Commission’s websites, you will be prompted to accept or refuse cookies. The purpose is to enable the site to remember your preferences (such as user name, language, etc.) for a certain period of time. That way, you don’t have to re-enter them when browsing around the site during the same visit. Cookies can also be used to establish anonymised statistics about the browsing experience on our sites. How do we use cookies? European Commission websites mostly use “first-party cookies”. These are cookies set and controlled by the Commission, not by any external organisation. However, to view some of our pages, you will have to accept cookies from external organisations. The 3 types of first-party cookie we use are to:
These are set by us and only we can read them. They remember: if you have agreed to (or refused) this site’s cookie policy if you have already replied to our survey pop-up (about how helpful the site content was) – so you won't be asked again Name Service Purpose Cookie type and duration eu_cookie_consent Cookie consent kit Stores your cookie preferences (so you won’t be asked again) First-party session cookie deleted after you quit your browser ecsi Website survey tools Stores information on whether you have already replied to a survey pop-up – so you won't be asked again. First-party persistent cookie, 1 month cck3 Cookie consent kit Stores your preferences for 3rd-party cookies (so you won't be asked again) First-party session cookie deleted after you quit your browser Operational cookies There are some cookies that we have to include in order for certain web pages to function. For this reason, they do not require your consent. In particular: authentication cookies technical cookies required by certain IT systems