IT and Internet Literacy Quiz | Cookies, Browsing History, and Private Browsing
Problem 1
You close an online store and reopen it the next day, but you are still signed in and your selected display language is preserved. Which common mechanism can be used to retain this information?
View explanation
Cookies are a common mechanism that lets a site identify or retain sign-in status and display preferences in the browser. A DNS cache primarily stores domain-name lookup results temporarily; it is not intended to retain a user's site preferences.
Problem 2
The address bar shows “shop.example,” but a sign-in component on the page is loaded from a different site, “auth.other.example,” and sets a cookie associated with the latter. How is this cookie best classified?
View explanation
The cookie is associated with a site different from the one shown in the address bar, so it is a third-party cookie. Displaying the component within the page does not make the cookie's site the same as the page's site. Whether it persists is a separate classification issue.
Problem 3
Which change may occur immediately after you delete “all cookies and site data” in a browser?
View explanation
Deleting cookies may remove sign-in state and display preferences that relied on them. A cookie is not the online account itself, so deleting it does not close your membership. General files on the device and records held by an internet service provider are separate data.
Problem 4
One news site will not open correctly because an old display preference remains. You want to preserve your sign-in status on other sites as much as possible. What is the most appropriate first step?
View explanation
Deleting cookies and site data for only the affected site can reset its stored state while limiting the impact on other sites. There is no need to erase all saved passwords or all sites' data, and allowing third-party cookies everywhere is not an appropriate first response to this issue.
Problem 5
In the browser's deletion dialog, you select only “browsing history” and do not select “cookies and site data.” After deletion, you remain signed in to an online store. What is the best explanation?
View explanation
Browsing history and cookies or site data are separate categories. Because you deleted only history and did not select the cookies used for sign-in state, remaining signed in is expected. Choose deletion categories according to the data you intend to remove.
Problem 6
On a shared computer, you work in two Chrome Incognito windows. You close one, but the other remains open. What should you do to ensure that the Incognito session ends?
View explanation
Multiple Chrome Incognito windows belong to the same session, which ends after all of them, including the last one, are closed. Closing only one window or minimizing the remaining one does not end the open session.
Problem 7
Someone believes that using private browsing on an employer's network prevents anyone from identifying the sites they visit. Which explanation is most accurate?
View explanation
Private browsing mainly reduces browsing history and post-session site data left on that device. It is not an anonymity feature that completely hides online activity from visited sites, an employer's network administrators, or an internet service provider.
Problem 8
You download a financial statement PDF in Incognito mode on a shared computer and close every Incognito window. If you do not want the next user to find the file, what else must you do?
View explanation
Files downloaded in Incognito remain on the device after the session ends. On a shared computer, check the download location and properly delete the file. Closing the windows does not automatically remove downloaded files or bookmarks you created.
Problem 9
You sign in to your Google Account and search in an Incognito window. After closing it, a search absent from browser history appears in your Google Account activity. What is the best explanation?
View explanation
Incognito reduces local browser history, but it does not disable activity settings in a web service you sign in to. To manage records in both places, review the browser's local data and the account's saved activity separately.
Problem 10
After you block third-party cookies, only the external identity provider's sign-in component stops working on a legitimate reservation site you regularly use. Which response limits the privacy impact most effectively?
View explanation
Blocking third-party cookies can prevent components hosted on other domains, such as sign-in widgets, from working. After confirming that the sites are legitimate and the function is necessary, a temporary site-specific exception limits exposure better than allowing third-party cookies everywhere. Consider removing the exception afterward.