What does accepting cookies mean?

Definition

Accepting cookies means allowing a website to store small text files on your device. Essential cookies make the site work, while optional ones, such as analytics, tell the site owner how you use it.

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Category
Privacy
Also called
accept all cookies, cookie consent
Last updated

The ICO, the UK's data protection regulator, describes cookies as small text files that websites place on your computer. They are widely used to make websites work, or work more efficiently, and to give information to the site's owners.

What you're agreeing to

The ICO's own cookie page shows the two basic kinds. A necessary cookie remembers your cookie choice. An optional analytics cookie measures how visitors use the site. When a banner asks you to accept, the choice usually concerns the optional kind. Necessary cookies are needed for the site to work.

Accept vs. reject

If you accept all, the site can set the optional cookies, so it can record how you browse. If you reject them or choose only essential ones, the site is limited to the cookies it needs to function. The site should still work, though some features may be reduced.

Take a moment

Accepting is a decision about your browsing data, so it is fine to take a few seconds to look at the options before you click.

How to protect yourself

  1. 1

    Choose reject or essential only when you can

    If a banner offers a reject option, you can use it. Most sites still work without optional cookies.

  2. 2

    Open the settings instead of clicking accept all

    Many banners have a manage choices link where you can allow only the types you want.

  3. 3

    Clear cookies now and then

    Your browser's settings let you delete stored cookies, which also resets what sites remember about you.

  4. 4

    Remember cookies are only one source

    Even with cookies off, details about you may be listed on data brokers and people-search sites. Serus finds those listings and removes them where it can.

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Frequently asked

Is it safe to accept cookies?

Necessary cookies are routine. Optional ones such as analytics give the site owner information about how you use the site, so it is a privacy choice, not a danger by itself.

What happens if I reject cookies?

The site is limited to essential cookies. It should still work, though some features may be reduced.

Do I have to accept cookies?

Necessary cookies are needed for the site to work. The optional ones are a choice, and many banners let you decline them or pick only the types you want.

Sources

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Related terms

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Cookie preferences

Choose which categories we may use. Full details for every cookie are in our Cookie Policy.

Strictly necessary

Authentication, session management, security and fraud prevention, and saving your consent choice. Always active. The site cannot function without them.

Functional

Remember preferences such as language and settings that improve your experience.

Analytics

Help us understand how the site is used, like pages visited, interactions, and performance, so we can improve it.

Marketing & advertising

Measure our marketing and deliver more relevant ads through partners such as Google, Meta, TikTok, X, and Reddit. Used only with your consent.

Your choice is saved for 12 months and applies across serus.ai, including the app. You can change it anytime from the cookie widget or the "Cookie settings" link in the footer. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that happened before withdrawal.