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 #19-194 (07-2-19, 4:51 pm) - Subject - merit raises
Name -
Affiliation -
Names of the members of the merit committee in the Department of Mathematics. Amount of merit raise given to each faculty in 2019 along with reasons for the merit distribution, if any.
FOI #19-193 (07-2-19, 3:29 pm) - Subject - Campus Mental Health Counseling
Name - Collin Binkley
Affiliation - The Associated Press
I’d like to submit a request for public records related to mental health counseling at UConn.
Specifically, I would like to request records containing the following data:
- The annual number of on-campus mental health appointments attended by students for each year since 2014 (including year-to-date 2019)
- The number of unique students who received mental health services from the school for each year since 2014 (including year-to-date 2019)
- The campus counseling center’s annual budget for each year since 2014
- The number of licensed mental health counselors employed at the school’s counseling center for each year since 2014
- The average wait time for a non-crisis mental health counseling appointment in 2018
- The average wait time for a crisis counseling appointment in 2018
- The most common concern or concerns reported by students who received mental health services from the school in 2018
As background, I’m requesting these records from the largest public university in every state as part of a project examining the increase in demand for campus mental health services.
FOI #19-192 (07-1-19, 12:44 pm) - Subject - Parking Citations
Name - Colin McNeil
Affiliation - UCONN ITS
Parking citations and appeals for the year 2018 in the storrs campus, anonymized. Fields including citation amount, reason, color of vehicle, make, model. Citation appeals including appeal request letter, appeal action taken, and reason for denial.
Under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, we formally request that your office provide us with public spending information, including both capital and operating expenditures, for payments made by or on behalf of The University of Connecticut Health Center during fiscal year 2019. Specifically, for any payee other than a regular employee or student paid a cumulative total amount of more than $5,000, we seek the payee name, address, and the cumulative total dollar amount paid to the subject payee over the relevant time period.
FOI #19-187 (06-26-19, 3:24 pm) - Subject - Football Contracts
Name - Kevin Kelley
Affiliation - BRI Solutions, LLC
All University of Connecticut football game contracts, memorandums of understanding, letters or cancellations for non-conference opponents for the 2020 season through the 2040 season (signed, dated, and/or received on or after February 1, 2019).
FOI #19-185 (06-24-19, 1:12 pm) - Subject - Big East correspondance
Name - Dan Brechlin
Affiliation - Hartford Courant
(1) All electronic communication involving university president Susan Herbst, Director of Athletics David Benedict, UConn Athletics chief operating officer Adrianne Swinney with the keywords "BIG EAST", "BIGEAST" and/or "Val Ackerman" dating back to June 1, 2018.
(2) I am requesting a letter/document formally inviting UConn to the Big East Conference from the conference/conference chairman. If this document is not yet available, please consider this a standing request until it is received.
I am also requesting any addenda to the offer letter including a contract to formally join the Big East and any financial details.
(3) I am requesting a copy of the American Athletic Conference membership contract/deal.
(4) I am requesting a document sent by the university to the American Athletic Conference notifying conference officials of UConn's withdrawal from the conference and any attachments and/or addenda. If this has not been sent yet, please consider this a standing request for the document(s).