Cookies are small text files you receive from the websites you visit, stored on your computer, tablet, smartphone etc., allowing websites to recognize your IP address. Cookies may for instance be used to optimize website content based on statistics of the visitors’ use of the website. A cookie is a passive file and cannot collect information from the user’s computer or spread computer virus or other harmful programs. Some cookies are placed by websites (third parties) other than the one stated in the browser’s address line (the URL). The content of such cookies may be of a general nature, but they may also be, for example, analytical tools or embedded comment fields. This means that cookies are stored from parties other than the one owning the website.
Some cookies are created temporarily and expire at the end of the user session when the browser is closed (session cookies). Other cookies are stored on the user’s IT equipment for a longer period of time (persistent cookie). When the user revisits a website, new session cookies will be placed in the temporary memory, whereas a persistent cookie will be renewed.