A cookie is a text file that a website downloads to your browser as you are visiting it. The stored information acts like a “unique identifier” that helps a website “remember” you when you visit next time around. It is therefore a kind of tracker.
While cookies are the most commonly known form of online tracking, there are many other techniques used to track people’s online activity.
We use the term tracker as a general term that includes commands, scripts or cookies, embedded in websites or mobile application.
While trackers can be very useful in some cases (for example they allow you to keep browsing on a website without having to re-enter your password on every single page) some versions of them can be very intrusive and possibly harmful.
Pocket Geek Privacy focuses on 6 categories of trackers. We categorized them by purpose: