Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
Our Meet & Greet/ECOM Welcome will take place over refreshments Fri September 13, 3:30-5:00 at the UCHI Seminar Room (Babbidge Library, 4th floor). Come hear recipients of the ECOM 2019 summer fellowships (Ryo, Ken, Aliyar, Eno, and Drew) tell about their summer projects.
Reading group: We’ll be reading a recent book, Transparent Self-Knowledge (OUP, 2018) by Alex Byrne (MIT), We’ll be meeting on the following Thursdays 12:15-1:30 at the Philosophy seminar room, Manchester 227: Sept 5, 19; Oct 10, 24; Nov 7, 14. If you’d like to participate, please let Aliyar (aliyar.ozercan@uconn.edu) know. Once we have a list of participants, Dorit will send participants summary notes on the book (prepared by ECOM research specialist Teresa Allen).
Prof. Byrne will be an ECOM guest and will meet reading group members on Nov 15 over lunch. On Nov 15, 4 pm Prof. Byrne will also be giving a keynote talk opening ECOM’s Inaugural Graduate Conference “Kinds of Knowledge” Nov 15-16.Kristin Andrews (York) will give a second keynote talk on Saturday. See details at PhilEvents. We will need help selecting papers, hosting graduate student speakers, chairing sessions, etc. Please let us know if you’re available to help.
This year we’re introducing a new series “ECOM SPOTLIGHT”, featuring ECOM faculty members who will present their current work to the ECOM community. This Fall, Prof. Emily Myers will give a talk on Thurs Oct 17, 12-1:30 Arjona 307, and Prof. Eiling Yee will give a talk on Thurs Dec 5, 12-1:30 Arjona 307.
Also, please mark your calendars, May 13-15! We’ll have a major conference, Expression, Language, and Music (ELM) to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We now have the following invited speakers: Tecumseh Fitch (Biology, Vienna), Kathleen Higgins (Philosophy, Austin TX), Ray Jackendoff (Linguistics, Tufts), Jerrold Levinson (Philosophy, Maryland), Lisa Margulis (Music Cognition, Princeton), Isabelle Peretz (Psychology, Montreal), David Poeppel (Neuroscience, NYU), Ljiliana Progovac (Linguistics, Wayne State).