Trace your commute

Digital tracking explained

Cookies and browser fingerprinting explained

Deleting a cookie and changing how a browser can be recognized address different mechanisms.

Sources checked .

Conceptual illustration

Cookies remember information

Chrome describes first-party cookies as created by the visited site and third-party cookies as created by other sites whose content appears there. Cookies can preserve sign-in state and preferences as well as support personalization. Their presence alone does not establish an advertising purpose. Google Chrome: cookie settings

A fingerprint uses browser characteristics

The FTC describes fingerprinting as recognition based on browser configurations and settings. Unlike a stored cookie, this approach relies on characteristics exposed by the browser. Clearing cookies does not itself change every characteristic available to a site. FTC: online tracking

Use more than one control

Review cookie settings and the browser's tracking-protection controls. Mozilla describes protection against several tracking mechanisms. A browser setting should be evaluated by what it blocks, rather than treated as a guarantee of anonymity. Mozilla: tracking protection

Questions and answers

Are all cookies advertising trackers?

No. Chrome notes uses such as keeping a person signed in and remembering preferences. Google Chrome: cookie settings

Does private browsing block fingerprinting by itself?

Do not assume so. The FTC notes that private browsing does not stop sites from seeing online activity. FTC: online tracking

Sources and scope

Keep exploring