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ARTICLE · 17 APRIL 2023

Cookie Use In India: A Legal Vacuum

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Cookies are small files of code downloaded to the devices of individuals by the websites those persons visit.

IndiaPrivacy
Mathew Chacko
Mathew Chacko
Aadya Misra
Aadya Misra
Shambhavi Mishra
Shambhavi Mishra
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Cookies are small files of code downloaded to the devices of individuals by the websites those persons visit. Cookies track visitors' activity and experience personalisation and fall into two categories, first-party and third-party. The former are accessible only by the domain that created them; the latter by any website that loads a third-party server's code, enabling such third-party cookies to be traced by websites other than those an individual visits. This feature helps businesses track the activities of site visitors and collect and process their personal data. Most significantly, it enables advertisers to target advertisements at the right viewers.

The drawback is the privacy risk inherent in the use of cookies, such as the unauthorised collection of sensitive personal data with the subsequent risk of breaches and hijacking. To meet such privacy concerns, regulators worldwide have begun to control cookies. In Europe, the 2002 Directive 2002/58/EC of the

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