Welcome to the Financial Times Lexicon

Browse thousands of words and phrases selected by Financial Times editors and suggest new terms for the glossary.

 

Term of the day

cookie

A cookie is a widely-used small computer file, containing code, that stores data about internet users’ behaviour.

This file is a legacy of the early days of the internet. These controversial but widely used tools help websites calculate how many people visit the site, personalise the content that they see and target ads.These are used to build profiles of web surfers by tracking their activities across a network of websites.

But the decades-old cookie has its limits, especially as companies seek...