Internet cookies were originally invented in 1994 by a Netscape engineer to solve the problem of a web browser forgetting who you were every time you clicked a new link.

A closer look

Internet cookies were originally invented in 1994 by a Netscape engineer to solve the problem of a web browser forgetting who you were every time you clicked a new link. Lou Montulli designed them as a harmless tool to keep items in a virtual shopping cart, ensuring the early e-commerce infrastructure wouldn't completely collapse. Fast forward a few decades, and this innocent digital memory aid has been weaponized by a global advertising surveillance network that follows you across the internet with terrifying precision. We went from simply trying to remember if someone put a digital book in their cart to a dystopia where looking at a pair of shoes once means you will be haunted by targeted advertisements for footwear until the end of your natural life