Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
UConn Today – UConn marketing professor Nicholas Lurie and two colleagues have found a little-known method for significantly enhancing social media influencer marketing.
In a recently published article in the Journal of Marketing, the researchers highlight how seeding the combination of a prominent influencer and a follower boosts the spread of an endorsement up to fivefold.
“Both researchers and marketers have traditionally believed that the key to social media messaging is to find the influencer with the largest social network,’’ Lurie says.
Rich Eldh ’81 delivers the keynote address at Commencement 2025 in Storrs, CT. (Nathan Oldham / UConn School of Business)
Congratulations to School of Business alumnus and Hall of Fame inductee Richard Eldh ’81 who has been appointed CEO and President of the UConn Foundation, the fundraising arm of the university.
In his new role, Eldh will oversee the “Because of UConn’’ fundraising campaign, which has raised more than $900 million, at a time when philanthropic investment is critically important to the success of all universities.
Eldh is an entrepreneur, business leader and investor. He is known for his work in B2B research, advisory services, and philanthropy. Formerly an officer at Gartner, a leading technology research and advisory firm based in Stamford, Conn., he also co-founded and served as co-CEO of SiriusDecisions, Inc., which catered to major corporate clients such as Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Cisco, and Salesforce.
A graduate of the school of Business, where he majored in finance, Eldh recently served on the UConn Foundation Board of Directors. He and his wife, Joyce Eldh, have generously supported student scholarships. He was also an early supporter of Hillside Ventures, an experiential-learning course in venture capital at UConn. Eldh was the 2025 commencement speaker for the School of Business, where he emphasized servant leadership, respect, hard work, and creating environments in which others can thrive.
UConn Today – As companies face increasing pressure to address climate change, many are choosing to publicly announce voluntary carbon-elimination goals.
Two UConn researchers have discovered that, in addition to highlighting environmental responsibility, these commitments also influence how investors perceive the value of a company.
UConn Today – In one of the most harrowing descriptions in his new book, two-time alum George Aldo Barrios ’87 (CLAS) ’89 MBA, a transformative business strategist and former co-President of WWE, recounted a trip to Saudia Arabia to close an important deal to bring wrestling entertainment to the kingdom.
The company was in the home stretch of the deal when journalist Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, in October 2018. His death was believed to be at the behest of the Saudi Crown Prince. Everyone at WWE was nervous about moving forward.
UConn Today – Artificial intelligence (AI) has raised big questions for higher education, employers, policymakers, and communities. How should AI be used in the classroom? What skills will students need in an AI-enabled workforce? How can organizations take advantage of new technologies while addressing concerns about privacy, ethics, and trust? Answers to these questions are already being explored across UConn, the state’s flagship, land- and sea-grant university.
UConn Today – rofessor Emerita Robin Coulter, who led the School’s Marketing Department for 17 years, will be recognized by the American Marketing Association this summer for the enduring impact of her research.
UConn Today – The Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies is co-leading, co-organizing, and co-sponsoring a four-day symposium in Zurich, Switzerland, drawing international experts to address sustainability in the real estate industry.
The conference, titled “Global Real Estate and Sustainability: An International Conference on Emerging Challenges and Research Frontiers,’’ will be held at the University of Zurich in September 2027. Other academic partners include Yale University and The University of Oxford in England.
CTSBDC – Sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective to unlock new growth. Through a recent collaboration between the UConn School of Business and the Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CTSBDC), Cricket Press—a West Hartford staple since 1971—gained valuable insights from some of UConn’s top business students, opening the door to new opportunities and ideas.
As part of its Honors Program, the UConn School of Business offers a Case Competition which gives students a chance to work directly with real-world businesses to address a challenge. In years past, students have worked with larger enterprises, but during the Spring 2026 semester, students worked with CTSBDC’s client, Greg Confessore, owner of Cricket Press. For Confessore, working with the students was about continuing a legacy of being forward-thinking and using new technology—and the knowledge of others—to allow his small business to operate at a higher level.
UConn Today – UConn Stamford recently hosted a four-day, invitation-only research conference on mixed-integer programming, a major area of mathematical optimization, known as MIP 2026.
The workshop brought leading academic researchers together with representatives from some of the world’s top technology and analytics companies to discuss new theoretical advances, computational methods, and real-world applications of optimization.
UConn Today – On a Wednesday afternoon in late April – tucked inside a quiet brick building in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, just a few blocks from the shining gold dome of Connecticut’s State Capitol building – a celebration took place.
On the third floor of The Lyceum – an historic site that at different times in its past housed a box manufacturing company, a punk rock dance club, and a roller-skating business – there were balloons, and there was music. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Smiles and handshakes and hugs passed around.
