Can anyone tell me, in layman's terms...
 

Why I need to have cookies enabled on my browser in order to get into my Gmail account?

So they can track you, etc.

So is the trick to enable them just to open my Gmail, then once in disable them again?

so they can remember it's you and you already logged in.
otherwise you'd have to log in every time you hit a button or click a mouse.

But I've usually logged into Gmail and done other browsing and it hasn't been a problem if I've disabled cookies.
I keep a window/tab open to Gmail.

I just tried this ... as soon as I disabled cookies, Gmale kicked me back to the login screen.

Don't be paranoid .... they already know everything about us :D

Cookies ... meh ;)

likely because you disabled cookies for that tab. not the whole browser.

that notwithstanding. it remembers you logged in. turn it off and it can't remember so you'll get stuck in a login loop.
so either live with it or sack gmail and run your own smtp server.

The gov't already knows more about me than I can remember myself. They made me paranoid if anyone did.
OK, I'll just give in and enable the damn cookies.

the gubmint scans all your emails anyway. so you might as well let google do it too - they at least might offer you a discount coupon or two.

the day the irs offers 10% off for prompt payment is the day i believe in unicorns.

I love chocolate chip cookies!

^^^ One must disable cookies in order to run "lean & mean" .... ymmv :D

Certain sites, certain cookies, you may as well enable. It's your email. They (alphabet, google, gmail) already have all of your mail and know that you check it from time to time. Even without cookies, google will know if/when/how you use your account for any one of its many uses.

Other sites and other cookies, no, I disable or reject.

I use:
-NoScript (blocks automatic running of possibly bad elements) and
-PrivacyBadger (blocks same with cookies) in Waterfox.
-Also Bleachbit occasionally to do a full clean.

Look at your Task Manager and see what is running CNTRL+ALT+DEL.
-Process Explorer from GitHub does the same with more detail and is free.

Facebook has been caught a few times using hidden permanent tracking cookies for users not even on their website. That should have been a federal offensive and too common these days. AKA cyber-stalking. Not enough stink has been made IMO.

Microsoft Edge elements, GlobalAccounts, Widget, etc etc still runs and collects info despite being uninstalled/suspended/disabled to the fullest extent possible. That's another one.

I understand per-session cookies are needed to keep your place on the site and especially for financial transactions. Delete them afterwards.

I use a phone, clear out all cache/cookies on semi-regular basis, but it doesn't bother me to leave them around on the few safe sites I visit .. mostly just Pelican, 1 or 2 others and LOTS of porn sites :D

Gmail is already scanning your emails through their AI. They know more about you than you do. A couple of cookies don’t matter at this point.

Exactly, at this point I just click OK for everything….who really cares, as other said, “they” probably know more about me than I do myself.

I forget stuff ... they don't :(.

I never knew that hippie chick giving out beta 'invites' on a music site really mattered ... last century ;).

She wuz cute ...

I almost never use the browser made by the OS manufacturer (MSIE or Edge or Apple Safari).

I use Firefox with NoScript and uBlock Origins addons for Firefox. A word of warning, there are times when some security measures will make some (few/occasional) sites inoperable. For instance, I can login to the UPS website and see packages that are coming to me, but sometimes for whatever reason a package doesn't show up in the list, so I have to track it. I am unable to track a package by tracking number in FF, I believe because of NoScript. It's not Pi-Hole because I can use Chrome to track via UPS. I believe the UPS site has some transient site that runs a script for a split second so it never shows up in the list of sites to allow. I haven't dug to try to fix it since I so rarely need to track that way and can use Chrome. It's possible that I can put in some sort of generic UPS in a whitelist in NoScript that would fix the issue.

I also use Pi-hole as a DNS filter for crap.

^^^ And you don't connect to g-servers each time you visit here...

Like the rest of us sheep do ;)

Log into gmail in an incognito window.

They can still track everything you say or do, but it will make you feel better about it ;)

That's what I do :D

Each of us has a "consumer identification number" that tracks your interests and purchases. This information is sold to various data collections sites for vendors for marketing and sales. I learned a great deal about cyber issues in my previous career.

"A customer identification number (CIN/Customer ID) is a unique code a business assigns to a customer for tracking, service, and security, acting like a digital name tag across different interactions, while also being a key part of regulatory requirements like the US Patriot Act's Customer Identification Program (CIP) for banks to verify identities to prevent financial crime. It links all customer data, enabling personalized experiences and streamlined operations, and can be found on statements or online portals, varying in format (e.g., 6-11 digits) depending on the institution."

Business exist to make money. If something is offered as "free", your information is being collected and sold.

Rock on, David

A current example of this is the arrest of the pipe bombing attempt suspect. Here is the story:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI on Thursday arrested a man accused of placing two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington on the eve of the U.S. Capitol attack, an abrupt breakthrough in an investigation that for years flummoxed law enforcement and spawned conspiracy theories about Jan. 6, 2021.

The arrest marks the first time investigators have publicly identified a suspect in an act that has been an enduring mystery for nearly five years in the shadow of the violent Capitol insurrection.

The suspect was identified as Brian J. Cole Jr., 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, but key questions remain unanswered after his arrest on explosives charges, including a possible motive and what connection if any the act had to the assault on the Capitol the following day by supporters of President Donald Trump.

Law enforcement officials reviewed credit card purchases of pipe bomb components, cellphone tower data and a license plate reader to zero in on Cole, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case. The FBI and Justice Department declined to elaborate on what led them to the suspect, but characterized his arrest as the result of a reinvigorated investigation during the Trump administration and credited a fresh analysis of already-collected evidence and data.

“Let me be clear: There was no new tip. There was no new witness. Just good, diligent police work and prosecutorial work,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference.

Calls to relatives of Cole listed in public records were not immediately returned Thursday. Hours after Cole was taken into custody, unmarked law enforcement vehicles lined the cul-de-sac where Cole’s home is while FBI agents helped shoo away onlookers. Authorities were seen entering the house and examining the trunk of a car nearby.

While we're explaining Gmail - when someone sends me an Adobe PDF via Gmail, Gmail doesn't allow me to simply open it in its original Adobe format? If I try to print it, all I get is 4 pages of crap, and if I save it, it is automatically saved to Google Drive. It took me forever to find the little tiny arrow up in the right-hand corner that lets me download it as a PDF. Only then I can open and print it without any interference from Gmail.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1765035514.jpg