4. What are Cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of text that a web server sends to a browser, which are then stored on the user’s device. On subsequent requests, the browser automatically sends this data back to the server, allowing the site to “remember” the state between individual page loads. This allows sites to store information about a user’s session, settings, shopping cart contents, and other preferences.

How it works

When you visit a site, the server may return a Set-Cookie header in the response. The browser stores the meaningful name=value pair and a number of additional parameters. These are lifetime, domain, path, and security flags. On subsequent requests to this domain, the server retrieves the stored information.

Types of cookies and where they are used

Cookies are different in terms of purpose and expiration date. Session cookies live only during the current session and are deleted when the browser is closed. Persistent cookies are stored on the device until a specified date and are used, for example, for “remember me” or content personalization. 

The origin of first-party cookies, which are set by the site itself, and third-party cookies, which come from third-party domains – most often advertising networks and analytics.

Security: Which attributes are important

To mitigate risks, modern browsers and standards provide a set of attributes for cookies. Secure guarantees transmission only via HTTPS. HttpOnly denies access to cookies from JavaScript, which reduces the likelihood of session tokens being stolen through XSS vulnerabilities. SameSite controls whether cookies will be sent in cross-site requests; the values Strict, Lax, and None give different levels of protection against CSRF attacks while affecting compatibility with external integrations.

The 0DETECT anti-deact browser supports loading valid cookies in json and txt formats. You can drag and drop the cookie file into the specified field or click on it and paste the copied data manually. Cookie robot functionality is also available, which automatically opens the links you specify, allowing us to collect cookies and trackers that sites set. 

Privacy and legal restrictions

Cookies are often used for personalization and targeting, and this involves the processing of personal data. In the EU and a number of other jurisdictions, the handling of non-essential cookies (analytics, advertising) requires informed consent from the user. This means that sites must explain which cookies are used, why, and give the user a clear choice.