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I think it is commonplace for most sites to use cookies. But FireFox users do know and aware of limiting cookies on their computers. So if your site have cookies, which issues have you noticed? What lessons have you learned?

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Dani AI

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Cookies are ubiquitous on the web and the trade-off this thread highlights — convenience versus privacy — is still the core point. As noted, cookies smooth logins and unfinished transactions, and 's "free site for an identifier" analogy captures why sites rely on them. Browser defaults and regulation have changed since this thread began, but the basic technical and UX trade-offs remain.

Quick, practical breakdown for site owners and developers: session cookies expire at browser close; persistent cookies have an expiry date; first-party cookies come from the visited site, third-party cookies come from other domains. Use the Secure and HttpOnly flags, set an appropriate SameSite value (Lax is a sensible default for auth cookies; Strict where possible), avoid storing sensitive data in cookies, and keep lifetimes as short as practical. See MDN: Cookies for details on attributes and behavior.

Compliance and design: many jurisdictions require informed consent for non-essential cookies and clear documentation of what each cookie does. Provide granular consent choices, document cookies in a cookie table or policy, and consider first-party or server-side analytics to reduce reliance on third-party trackers. ICO guidance is a practical reference for policy and consent expectations: .

Practical tips for users and admins: block third-party cookies if you want less cross-site tracking but expect some loss of convenience, as and imply. For troubleshooting, inspect cookies in browser devtools, clear site data for misbehaving sites, and test your site with cookies disabled to identify functionality that must be moved server-side.

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Member Avatar for efmesch

Though I have an innate fear of sites leaving their cookies on my computer, the truth is that I haven't had any NOTICEABLE difficulties because of them. They make it a lot easier to sign in to a site where I'm registered (like entering DaniWeb without having to sign in with my name and password each time) and they seem to store information about business deals that I have started but not managed to complete in one visit.
The warnings I have heard about programs that study your store of cookies and then start badgering you with ads or pop-ups based on your internet preferences has never shown up on my computer (at least, I haven't noticed it). But this could be to the credit of my anti-virus/anti-spyware program.

Member Avatar for InsightsDigital

I developed the following analogy with cookies: there is nothing free in this world. You go to a "free" site, get the information or experience you want, and then leave and you may come back. In exchange, the site will just give you a cookie or identifier. Though there are many posts and opinions against cookies, I personally think that it also helps heighten visitors' experience, like you mentioned.

Member Avatar for gumpyboy

as long as browser can keep the cookies secure, i think there's no problem for me to accept cookies..

Member Avatar for mackone

I accept them. Cookies are not really a threat for viruses or malware, but you may feel for example that tracking your visits to certain Web sites or having them remember your login information compromise your privacy. That is a personal decision you can make site by site now that you know what cookies do. You can control how you treat cookies with your Internet browser privacy settings. You probably do not want to block all cookies, because that would really limit the quality of your Internet experience.

Member Avatar for InsightsDigital

I agree with you Mackone. Many years ago, I changed my IE options to restrict all cookies and it was such an comfortable and time consuming online experience because I had to personally accept not once but a few times different cookies. After a few days, I could not take it anymore and I changed my IE options again.

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