Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
Fall 2020 UConn Early College Experience Math Workshop
On Thursday, December 10th UConn Early College Experience and UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Math, Assistant Professor in Residence, Anthony Rizzi met with ECE Math Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. Instructors received a copy of How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics by Eugenia Cheng.
The group met in both small breakout groups and as a whole group to discuss teaching during a pandemic, best practices for teaching Math 1030Q and 1131Q/1132Q and strategies for covering course materials. Later the group discussed Part 1 of How to Bake Pi and how it to relate the concepts to their students.
Fall 2020 UConn Early College Experience Anthropology Workshop
On Friday, December 4th UConn Early College Experience and UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Anthropology Associate Professor Dr. Alexia Smith met with ECE Anthropology Instructors for their annual professional development conference. Instructors received two books in preparation for the meeting.
White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
Eating Culture by Gillian Crowther
The group had a productive conversation about the two books and discussed strategies for teaching race and racism today as well as ways to use ethnographic observations of food as a platform for discussing broad anthropological concepts.
UConn Anthropology courses offered through UConn ECE.
The group had a lively conversation regarding UConn physics labs and the labs Instructors are overseeing in the high schools both in an in person and remote learning settings. Also discussed were questions about course content and final exams.
Later the group viewed a presentation by Profs. Gerald Dunne and Jon Trump, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut titled, Black Holes: The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Fall 2020 UConn Early College Experience HDFS Workshop
On Tuesday, December 1st UConn Early College Experience and UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Human Development and Family Sciences Dr. Shannon Weaver met with ECE HDFS Instructors for their annual professional development conference.
