Cookie is a term that is probably familiar to those who regularly use the Internet. However, many people may not know how to enable cookies or whether cookies are currently enabled in the first place.
In this article, we will provide an overview of cookies and explain how to enable them for Windows and Mac. We will also introduce the advantages and disadvantages of enabling cookies from a user’s perspective, so if you want to deepen your knowledge about cookies, please use this as a reference.
What is Cookie?
First, let’s start with an overview of cookies.
Cookies
are a mechanism that saves browsing history, visit information, login information, etc. Additionally, there are mainly two types of cookies.
The first is the 1st Party Cookie. 1st Party Cookies are cookies that are used only within one website. For example, a cookie stored by website A will only work on website A.
The second one will be the 3rd Party Cookie. 3rd party cookies are cookies that are used across multiple websites. For example, you may have had the experience of looking up credit card-related information on a website, only to find that after you leave the website, credit card advertisements appear on other websites as well. This is due to the functionality of 3rd party cookies, which are used across multiple websites and services.
Additionally, Google has indicated its intention to completely eliminate 3rd party cookies around 2023.
[Windows] How to enable cookies
Up to this point, we have provided an overview of cookies. From here, we will show you how to enable cookies for each browser in Windows.
Google Chrome
Here’s how to enable cookies in Google Chrome.
- In Google Chrome, click the button with three vertically arranged (・) in the upper right corner.
- Click “Settings” → “Security and Privacy”
- Click “Cookies and other site data”
- Click “Accept all cookies” to complete activation
Edge
Then, here’s how to enable cookies for Edge.
- In Edge, click the button with three vertically arranged (・) in the upper right corner.
- Click “Settings” → “Cookies and site permissions”
- Click “Manage and delete cookies and site data”
- Click “Allow sites to save and read cookie data (recommended)” to complete
Firefox
For Firefox, enable cookies as follows.
- Click Firefox and click the “three” icon in the top right
- Click “Settings” → “Privacy and Security”
- Select “History” → “Remember history” and complete
[Mac] How to enable cookies
Earlier, we explained how to enable cookies on Windows. Here we will show you how to enable cookies on your Mac. Note that the method for Google Chrome and Firefox is the same as for Windows, so we will focus on the method for Safari.
Safari
Here’s how to enable cookies in Safari.
- Click “Preferences”
- Click “Privacy”
- Uncheck “Block all cookies” and you’re done
Benefits of enabling cookies
So far, we have explained how to enable cookies. However, many people may not understand the benefits of enabling cookies. Here we will introduce the following three benefits of enabling cookies.
- You can log in without entering your ID and password
- Ads optimized for hobbies and preferences are delivered.
- You can leave items in your shopping cart
Let’s look at each in turn.
You can log in without entering your ID and password
If you enter your ID and password on the website you visited once, you can log in without entering your ID and password the next time you visit. Therefore, there is no problem even if you forget your password, and the advantage is that it simply simplifies the login process itself.
Ads optimized for hobbies and preferences are delivered.
When cookies are enabled, advertisements tailored to your interests and tastes will be delivered based on the trends of websites and SNS you have visited. Therefore, it is advantageous to be able to see advertisements for products that you may have been looking for, or to learn about limited-time campaign information.
Also, from the business side, there is the advantage of being able to continuously deliver advertisements to prospective customers.
You can leave items in your shopping cart
On e-commerce sites, you often add items to your shopping cart before making a purchase. However, there may be cases where a customer has purchased a product but for some reason leaves the e-commerce site before making the purchase. Even in such cases, the advantage is that if cookies are enabled, the items will remain in your shopping cart even when you return to the site.
Disadvantages of enabling cookies
Earlier, we explained the benefits of enabling cookies. However, we must not forget that there are not only advantages but also disadvantages. Typical disadvantages are as follows.
- Risk of unauthorized access
- If your device is lost, others can use SNS and various services.
Let’s look at each in turn.
Risk of unauthorized access
Cookie information is also stored on the website and service provider side. Therefore, it can be said that the disadvantage is that there is a risk of some kind of unauthorized access or misuse.
Additionally, if you enable cookies on a shared computer, there is a risk that your personal information may be stolen by a third party who uses the computer next time.
If your device is lost, others can use SNS and various services.
Next, if you lose your mobile phone, computer, or other device, and you have set the same login information for all services and websites, someone else may be able to use all SNS and various services. is also a disadvantage.
Of course, if you save your credit card information, there is a risk that a third party could purchase paid products.
Avoid the dangers of cookies by setting a password
Earlier, I explained the advantages and disadvantages of cookies. There are many people who are wondering whether to enable cookies, especially since there are many disadvantages. Of course, which one you choose depends on your personal judgment, but there are ways to reduce the disadvantages of enabling cookies.
The trick is to set different passwords for each website or service. In this situation, even if you lose your device, there is no risk of it being used to log in to multiple services using cookies.
If you want to enable cookies but are concerned about their disadvantages, try setting a different password as described above.
summary
In this article, we explained about cookies. Cookies are a mechanism that can temporarily store information on the web. Cookies have the advantage of not requiring you to enter your password when you want to log in again and delivering optimized advertisements. However, it is important to understand that if you use the same password, there is a risk and disadvantage that you may be logged in to multiple services.
Therefore, when enabling the cookies explained in this article, it is important to be sure to set different passwords for multiple services.