Cookie Policy
Last Revision: Mar 10, 2024
Cyberwip (“we,” “us,” or “our”) uses cookies when you visit our website [cyberwip.com] to help with navigation and authentication and to improve the general user experience.
What Are Cookies?
A ‘cookie ‘is a small text file (described by RFC 2965) sent by a web server along with the response to a connection request from a web browser. These cookies are not required as part of the HTTP protocol but are used to maintain state and provide better service and performance to the client.
Cookies are saved on your computer as a text file named according to the hostname (e.g., cyberwip.com) in a file location reserved for cookies. The web service has no control over where the cookies will be stored on the computer or even if the cookies are stored at all. Your browser may choose not to accept cookies.
Cookies for Identification
In the simplest case, a cookie may be an empty file used only to indicate (by its existence) that a previous connection has been made to the same service by that browser. Connecting to the same service with a different browser will create a different cookie.
In some cases, cookies contain only a single item, a unique identifier (UID) that identifies a single connection from a browser. Such a unique identifier might be the text string ‘uid=085D2163A74B37 ‘. These are typically called ‘session cookies ‘and are automatically generated by the web service on the first request if no cookie is included. Once a cookie has been established, it will be sent along with the parameters for all subsequent requests from the server. This does not identify a person; anyone using that web browser on that computer at that time and connecting to the same web service would use the same cookie.
In this case, if a web service wanted to collect further information about any transactions, it would save the information in a database (at its location), with the UID being the index (key). Nothing would be stored on the client’s computer and could be revealed to any spyware on the client’s system snooping. Sensitive data such as credit card info or passwords should NEVER be stored in cookies.
Cookies for Storage
Cookies are mainly used to store information on the user’s computer containing details and user preferences such as a unique identifier (UID, as described above), preferred language, location, or even the last web page visited so the user can return to it on their next visit. This is especially useful if a visitor’s session is unexpectedly interrupted while in the middle of something. Generally, these cookies maintain a session state.
Cookies for Tracking
Tracking via cookies has become a widespread practice on the Internet, and while usually done with the best intentions, it may be used maliciously. This is not intended to disclose personal information but for target marketing. If you have ever done a Google search on ‘bicycles’ and noticed that for the next three days, everywhere you go, you see ads for bicycles, you will have seen this in action. It’s annoying.. especially after you bought one two days ago, and Google is too stupid to know.
Our Use of Cookies
We use session cookies during all interactions with the server to keep track of the session state. The Internet is a connection-less protocol, meaning you do not get a unique connection to the server, but at the same time, you are connected to the server; dozens or even hundreds of other clients are using it simultaneously. The session cookie allows us to keep track of what we are doing when with any given client. These are temporary cookies, erased when the user leaves the website, and without them – internet use would be much less efficient.
We use cookies to provide unique IDs for indexing our database and recognizing individual visitors. Where visitors provide us with personal information for security reasons, that information is stored in a secure database and never stored as a cookie.
We use cookies to keep track of the logged-in state. These typically expire in anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Still, in cases where a user must be logged in to the server to use a service, if a person is temporarily sidetracked or even at the end of the day, they can turn their computer off or do something else. When returning, they’ll still be logged in to the service. This is a convenience, not an obligation.
Cookies for Statistics
We use cookies to analyze traffic patterns on our website. Each user has a unique cookie ID, and each page they visit gets a cookie when they see it, allowing us to identify traffic patterns. Our statistics software also uses cookies for this purpose. This helps us identify areas of interest and where we should focus our attention.
Third-Party Cookies
We have no control over the cookie policies of any external web resources, including advertisers or linked-to websites. We also have no control over the cookie operations of any operating system, web browser, or computing device. Other hardware and services will have different policies.
We have control over our own use of cookies and use them only to improve the quality of service to anonymous connections. We do not use them for tracking, monitoring, or collecting personal information, as doing so could jeopardize the visitor’s sensitive data.
How to Control Our Use of Cookies
Just as with most websites and the web browsers used to view those websites, Cyberwip automatically processes cookies and can not be controlled on an individual user level since, without cookies, we cannot identify the same browser on subsequent requests, making our website useless.
The best way to control cookie usage is through your web browser’s operational interface (e.g., about:config). Most browsers allow you to see a website’s cookies or even delete stored cookies. Check your browser’s documentation for instructions.
– Kent