Cache and Cookies: How They Affect Privacy When Browsing

One of the most important factors whenever we surf the net is to maintain privacy. We already know that our data has great value and that it can be used for advertising purposes, included in spam campaigns or even sold to third parties. In this article we are going to talk about the cache and cookies , two terms that are always closely linked to privacy. We will see how each of them acts in our day to day.

What is cache and how does it affect privacy

First of all, we are going to talk about what the cache is and how it can put our privacy at risk or not. It is something that is part of our day to day. We will see how it could affect us.

Cache and Cookies: How They Affect Privacy When Browsing

The cache basically what it does is store information from a website that we visit the first time. It stores data on our device so that, once we go to enter a second time, it is not necessary to download it again.

Let’s say that when entering a web page a logo is loaded. That small image would be stored on our device for a certain time. If before it is automatically deleted we re-enter, it would no longer be necessary to download it again.

This storage time will depend on how we have it configured. It can be hours, days, months … We can also delete it at any time or even configure a browser that does not store anything in cache.

Ultimately, the cache stores temporary Internet files. It collects information about our browsing, the sites we visit, and stores it locally for later use.

In another article we talked about Clean Cache, an extension for Chrome. It helps us improve privacy in this regard.

What are cookies and how do they affect privacy?

There are several types of cookies . However, one of them is in charge of storing information about the visitors of a web page. For example the data to log in, configuration they have made, etc.

These cookies can be used to identify and track visitors . Stores text, such as IP addresses, user names, visit history … It would not store an image file, for example.

In this case we can find cookies that expire after a while. They have an expiration date. However, we may also come across session cookies, which are only stored during that visit.

Through cookies, a web page could track and identify specific users. Know where they come from, what device they use, etc. Information that you can store to offer a different view of that website during the time they are stored.

Therefore, we can say that there are differences between cookies and the Internet cache. In both cases, one way or another could affect our privacy. They are different concepts. The cache makes it possible to speed up the loading of a website, while cookies collect more information in the form of text.

In another article we talked extensively about the privacy of cookies.