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.
FOI #23-124 (03-17-23, 9:02 am) - Subject - Animal Research Protocols
Name - Stephen Farghali
Affiliation - Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
1. All protocols approved or denied by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) that include the “forced swim test,” “forced swimming test,” “FST,” or “Porsolt swim test”.
2. All accompanying annual reports and amendments related to these protocols.
As a non-profit organization seeking this information to help inform the public about a matter of significant public interest, PCRM requests that the fees associated with this request be waived. If this is not possible, please provide me with a fee estimate prior to processing the request.
I prefer electronic delivery of records at my email address. If that is not possible, records can be mailed to the address provided.
FOI #23-123 (03-16-23, 11:57 pm) - Subject - Records Request - Football Contracts
Name -
Affiliation -
I am requesting an opportunity to obtain copies of the following public records: the most updated employment contract and all subsequent amendments for the University of Connecticut head football coach: Jim Mora
If a contract does not exist, I am requesting to obtain a MOU/LOA/term sheet/etc and 2023-24 salary report.
FOI #23-121 (03-16-23, 5:04 pm) - Subject - Contract on Basketball coach
Name - Evarist Akujobi
Affiliation - SC Management and Public Relations
Hope all is well. I'd like to submit a Freedom of Information Act Request on the contract for Men's Basketball Head Coach Dan Hurley and Women's Basketball Head Coach Geno Auriemma
I would like to submit the following request for documents in relation to your Request for Proposal MF120222. This bid was issued on or around December 2, 2022 with a deadline of December 16, 2022 at 2:00 PM EST.
1. Any and all documents, proposals and documentation of sample submissions.
2. Any and all evaluation scoring sheets, scoring rubrics and/or matrixes and any other documents supporting the decision making process.
3. A copy of the proposed/executed contract with the awarded vendor.
Electronic copies are preferred, and can be sent to Michael.flanigan@balfour.com
In order to help to determine my status to assess fees, you should know that I am affiliated with a private corporation, GradImages, which is a division of Balfour. I am seeking information for use in the company's business, and we are willing to pay any fees associated with the fulfillment of this request. However, I do request that you please provide an estimate of those fees before moving forward with fulfilling the request.
Thank you for your consideration of this request, please let me know if I need to provide anything else to help this request along!
FOI #23-119 (03-16-23, 11:05 am) - Subject - Request for Bid/Contract Documents under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act
Name - Praveen Gopal
Affiliation - Clean Earth
Under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, I am requesting an opportunity to inspect/obtain copies of public records that cover current contract details pertaining to the Hazardous Waste Management & Disposal Services at your university. The details would help us provide a more comprehensive and value-added offering in the upcoming RFPs.
The documents I would like to access include:
1. Copy of the Winning Proposal
2. Contract Amount
3. Contract Period (Start and End period)
4. Contract Scope of work
5. Bid Tallying results from the RFP
6. College Contact Details
If this email is not sufficient for your Public Records Law requirements, please forward your PR forms, as well as list any fees for copying services that may apply.
From your institution and others, we are seeking complete filings made to the U.S. Department of Education as required by Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. We are specifically interested in the details of contract and gift money from sources in China (PRC), Hong Kong and Macau, starting in the year 2012 through to the present. Some basic financial figures on this are available to us from the Dept of Education, but we are interested in seeing the full filing to the Dept of Education that might include names of donors and intended uses for the funding, in addition to the raw numbers.