Which statement about cookies is true?

• A. Cookies are never used to analyze traffic sources.
• B. Cookies store only the current page visit, not session data.
• C. Cookies contain all user passwords in plaintext.
• D. Cookies keep a record of user sessions and device information, enabling the collection of session start and traffic source data.

Answer: (D)

Cookies are tiny data files stored by the browser that let a site recognize a user and remember information across pages and visits. Because of that, they can keep track of when a session starts and what led the user to the site, which helps analysts attribute traffic to specific sources. This is why the statement that cookies keep a record of user sessions and device information, enabling the collection of session start and traffic source data is the true one.

Think about what cookies do beyond a single page: they often hold session identifiers and preferences so a user can move through a site without losing state, rather than just storing the current page. Also, storing all user passwords in plaintext in cookies would be insecure, so cookies aren’t used to hold credentials directly; authentication typically relies on secure tokens or session IDs, with protections in place to minimize risk. Lastly, cookies are indeed used in analyzing traffic sources, contradicting the idea that they’re never used for that purpose.