Online cookies sit at the centre of a trade-off between convenience and privacy, and those “accept all” or “reject all” pop-ups are how websites ask for your permission to track and personalise your experience.Understanding what each option means helps you decide how much data you are comfortable sharing.
Role of cookies
Cookies are small files that websites store on your device to remember information about you and your activity. They can keep you logged in, remember your preferred settings, or help online shops track items in your cart.
- Session cookies are temporary and disappear when you close the browser or after inactivity, supporting things like active shopping carts.
- Persistent cookies remain for days to years, recognising you when you return and saving details like login credentials.
- Advertisers use cookies to track browsing behaviour and deliver targeted ads based on your profile.
Essential vs non-essential cookies
Most banners state that a site uses essential cookies that are required for core functions such as logging in or processing payments. These cannot usually be disabled because the site would break without them.
Non-essential cookies generally fall into three groups:
- Functional cookies personalise your experience, for example by remembering language or region.
- Analytics cookies collect statistics on how visitors use the site, helping owners improve performance and content.
- Advertising cookies, often from third parties, build cross-site, cross-device profiles to serve personalised ads.
Accept all or reject all?
Choosing accept all gives consent for the site and third parties to use every category of cookie and tracker. This enables full functionality and personalised features, including tailored advertising driven by your behaviour profile.
Selecting reject all (or ignoring the banner) typically blocks every cookie except those essential for the site to work. You still access core services, but may lose personalisation and see fewer or less relevant embedded third-party elements.Your decision is stored in a consent cookie and many sites will ask you again after six to twelve months.
Privacy, GDPR and control
Under the EU’s GDPR, cookies that identify users count as personal data, so sites must request consent, explain what is being tracked, document that consent and make it easy to refuse or withdraw it. Many websites outside the EU follow similar rules because they handle European traffic.
To reduce consent fatigue, a specification called Global Privacy Control lets browsers send a built-in privacy signal instead of forcing users to click through banners on every site, though adoption remains limited and voluntary. If you regret earlier choices, you can clear cookies in your browser settings, which resets consent but also signs you out of most services.
