Cookies | Habefast
Far from being sweet and appetizing little cakes, cookies in the web have a completely different purpose. Often questioned in data protection, find out what exactly they are.
Cookies: definition
The cookie is what is known as a “connection indicator”. It is a piece of information that is sent to your web browser when you log in and it will store it for a period of time. It will send it back to the server each time you log in again.
It is used to recognize a user when he/she visits a web page again.
Cookies: what are they for?
There are three elements that stand out in their role:
The first is the session management of users as they browse the web. This element is related to the use of shopping carts and logins.
The second is the personalization of preferences on a site. The objective is to improve the future navigation of Internet users on the Internet. This is the case, for example, with contact forms that can be automatically filled in with information that has been saved.
The third is tracking, which is used to better understand the browsing habits of Internet users. These cookies are often questioned regarding the lack of privacy of Internet users, because these data are then used by companies for their marketing actions. It is however possible to deactivate them easily.
The different types of cookies
There are different types of cookies:
- Essential cookies: they are necessary for navigation on the website, and if they are not used the website cannot function. They concern, for example, the cookies used to identify oneself to a personal space on a site.
- Tracking cookies: these are the cookies that will record all your actions on the websites such as visits made, pages viewed etc.. Thanks to them it is possible to study your behavior on the Internet.
- Third-party cookies: they allow several websites to share your data with each other. There are also permanent cookies, zombies, post-view…
Swiss legislation on cookies
In 2020, there was the Data Protection Act (DPA), which will come into force in 2022 and applies to both the private and public sectors. This law stipulates that the Internet user must be informed in a transparent manner about the use of his data, the purpose of the processing and the analysis of this data. He must also be able to object to the tracking of his information.
This law gives more power to the Federal Data Protection and Transparency Commissioner (FDPIC) who is now authorized in case of non-compliance of a site to give sanctions that can go up to 250,000 CHF fine.