What are Cookies?
Cookies are used to store information locally on a PC, within the browser,
by a web server. This information is not normally classified as being sensitive
but is used to carry information about you and your activities whilst you move
through a web site, this is often referred to as a "session". There are a number
of other ways of being able to keep tracks on your activities through a web
site, but cookies are often seen to be the most effective and in many cases
the most secure option.
An example of this is when you are building up a shopping basket. You will
need to visit a number of pages on the web site in order to find what you need.
In order to keep a track of your basket the web server will need to hold information
about your shopping requests. This information is stored securely on the web
server, however the web server needs to be able to identify you as you to and
fro between the pages of the web site. This identification of you and your browser
throughout the visit to this site is done primarily using a cookie, holding
a unique reference for you during your visit.
What cookies are being stored on my system?
The number of cookies being stored on your PC will vary and the data stored
within the cookies will also vary according to the way in which the web service
operates. In terms of sites developed for Empresa clients, then cookies are
used to simply hold a "session" or "key" for you as an individual so that the
web service can build up information for you during your visit to the site,
such as the items you wish to order. There are also some cookies stored on your
machine to aid you when you return to a given web site, such as the storage
of your account reference or userid (not your password). Storing non sensitive
information is often held simply to aid you as a user and to help provide you
with re-occuring information rather than you having to remember it.
If the information is being stored on the web server, why do I need to
enable cookies via my web browser?
Your web browser passes to the web server a session identifier or key. This key enables the web server to keep track of you whilst you use the web site. It enables the web server to associate you and your web browser with the information you have already gathered within previous pages of the web site, for example items you may already have selected to add to a shopping basket. For your web browser to perform this function, cookies need to be enabled within your web browser.
Please choose one the following browsers :