A cookie is a small text file that is sent to your computer via your web browser when you visit some websites.

These cookies are used to store information about you for the next time you visit that site - information like where you went on the site and what you did.

Cookie files are a great way for a website to remember you when you next visit, but if you want to surf the net without worrying about your privacy or security being threatened, you might want to stop them being sent.

What they do

Cookies have a variety of different functions, from remembering purchasing information or recording your viewing preferences, to storing scores for online quizzes.

All of which can be useful if you repeatedly visit the same sites time and again.

A cookie from a particular website will sit on the hard drive of your computer and wait until the next time you visit that site.

A user's cookies on their hard drive

Without the cookies the web server would have no way of knowing that you had been to the site before unless you logged in with a username and password.

Cookies allow web servers to remember you.