Cookies can be those random things in your apartment that you don’t need per se, but it’s no problem if it’s there or they can be quite troublesome. If you surf the net every now and then you would definitely know that after opening many sites for the first time, they ask you to ‘Accept cookies’. They have got even smarter than before as, even if you don’t “Accept Cookies” and continue to scroll down, this act is also considered as your acceptance of cookies. Here’s a short introduction to cookies found on most devices and the internet:
What are Cookies?
Just like the cookies in real life leave crumbs behind, your activity on the internet leaves small crumbs of data (aka cookies) on your devices. A proper definition describes them as small bits of data which is stored as plain text files on any device through a web browser (whichever was used). Cookies are not that unnecessary and scary as you might think! While simple websites can run without giving them out, most websites today give out cookies to your device. This is so because it makes your experience on the websites smoother, as it acts as a list of your preferences for the website to fulfill.
Then why should you periodically remove cookies from your devices? Well, cookies by themselves are not a threat. They do not transfer viruses, spyware, or other malware. But what makes them dangerous is the fact they can be controlled or hijacked, this directly gives the hacker access to your browsing time, history, etc. Also, they might leak your phone number, e-mail address, etc to a third party (such cookies are mostly given out by third-party ads or other services).
So, it is always a good habit to delete cookies on all your devices(especially your phone) periodically. Here are a few ways you can delete cookies on your Android devices depending on your preferred browser:
How to clear Cookies on Chrome
- Find and launch Google Chrome on your Android device.
- Go to the menu/more option, it should be on the top right corner as a three dot icon.
- From the menu/more list, tap on the option of ”Settings”.
- Then look for the option “Privacy” and tap on it.
- There you will see the option of ”Clear browsing data”, from the pop-up select the options o clear cache, all history and all cookies.
How to clear Cookies on Opera
- After launching the opera browser on your phone, go to the menu option.
- Look for and open your browsing history.
- Tap on the trash icon to delete everything related to your history, cookies and caches.
How to clear Cookies on Firefox
- Look for and launch Firefox browser on your Android.
- Tap on the menu/more option in the top right corner.
- From the presented list tap on the option “History”.
- Here you can find the option of “Clear browsing history”, tap on it.
- Check on all the applicable boxes to delete cookies from your device.
Disabling Cookies
Instead of deleting your cookies from your devices every now and then, it might be a better option for some users to simply sacrifice a smoother time on the internet for avoiding cookies altogether. If you are someone like this who doesn’t want to take a chance with their device’s safety and/or privacy. Keep in mind that you might not be able to browse some websites as they strictly require cookies. But if you really want to check out those websites you can just follow the same steps to enable cookies. Here is how you can disable almost all cookies to be received by your device:
How to disable cookies on Chrome
- Launch the Chrome browser.
- Tap on more and then tap on the ”Settings” option.
- Look for and tap on the option of ”Site Settings”.
- Select the option “Cookies”.
- Toggle off the Cookies option and your are all set.
How to disable cookies on Opera
- Launch the Opera browser on your phone.
- Tap on the Menu button and go to Settings.
- From the list, tap on ”Preferences”
- Tap on the “Advanced tab” option from the list.
- Select the “Never accept cookies” option under the Cookies tab.
How to disable cookies on Firefox
- Launch the Firefox browser and tap on the more/menu button.
- From the list select the option “Settings”.
- Scroll down to find the Privacy section, here find and tap on the option of “Tracking Protection”.
- Toggle on the “Enhanced Tracking Protection” option and select the strict or standard option (as per your convenience).