In its most basic form, this information can't easily be used to personally identify you. Enter a piece of Internet magic - the cookie. Magic Cookies Simply put, cookies are electronic ID tags that tell a website who you are. They are very small files saved on your hard drive by a website that you have visited. Cookies remove your anonymity, allowing a website to build a personal profile and target advertising and promotions at you as an individual.
Cookies can be useful in certain circumstances.
For example, cookies allow your bank to connect you to your account information when you log into your bank website. An entire industry has grown around the collection of your personal data and sale of that information for advertising purposes - all without your consent. The online advertising industry, primarily the banner ad servers, succeed by charging advertisers a fee for making sure that their ads are put in front of customers who match a specific profile. This practice, called target marketing, isn't new by any stretch. What is new is the power the Internet gives marketers to build massive databases of personal information on unique individuals across multiple platforms.