AI Fundamentals

Cookies are small pieces of data stored on a user's browser that websites use to track behavior, preferences, and identity across visits and sites. For many years, this tracking occurred silently in the background without any requirement to inform users or obtain their consent, making it a hidden data-collection mechanism. This changed only after privacy regulations (such as the EU's ePrivacy Directive and GDPR) required websites to disclose cookie usage and obtain explicit user consent via cookie banners. This history makes cookies the simplest and most widespread example of previously non-consensual, hidden online data collection—unlike CAPTCHAs (a bot-detection mechanism) or job applications (which involve deliberate, consensual disclosure of information by the applicant).