In order to investigate cookie lifecycles in-depth, we introduced the concepts of cookie trees, creation and sharing chains, which enabled us to capture the dependencies and relationships between entities that act as both endpoints and middlemen in the cookie ecosystem. We discovered that, in most webpages, tracking cookies are set and shared by organizations at the end of complex chains that involve several middlemen. It does not store any personal data.Our analysis allows us to paint a highly detailed picture of the cookie ecosystem, discovering an intricate network of connections between players that reciprocally exchange information and include each other’s content in web pages – sometimes without even the web page owners’ knowledge.

The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Performance'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Necessary'. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Functional'.

The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Analytics'. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.

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