If websites can do this without cookies… why are so many cookies necessary?

This page isn’t using cookies. Here’s what it still knows about you.

So what’s going on? How is this achieved?

This page reads information your browser provides right now, in the moment. It doesn’t need to store anything to do it — which is why this can feel surprising.

This page is built with simple HTML and JavaScript running asynchronously.

What this page does (and doesn’t) do:

• Reads: language, timezone, screen/viewport size, display preferences, and basic device/network hints — in real time.
• May reveal: permission states like camera/microphone (allowed / blocked / prompt), depending on your browser.
• Does not store: anything on your device (no cookies, no localStorage, no sessionStorage, no IndexedDB).
• Does not build: a hidden ID or fingerprint “hash”.
• Does not call: third-party scripts or load third-party assets automatically.
• Does not look up: your IP address (that would require a server call).

And still, it can respond to you.

Because your browser already exposes a lot by default.

The question isn’t whether a site can function without cookies. It’s this: how much does it really need to store about a user?

What a website can do without cookies

Even without cookies, a website can usually:

• show you the right language and formatting
• match your timezone and local date conventions
• fit your screen and adapt to your device
• respect your settings (like dark mode or reduced motion)
• detect basic capability (touch vs mouse, fast vs slow connection)
• tailor the experience right now, in real time

None of that requires storing anything about you. It's just the website reacting to what your browser is already telling it.

So what are cookies actually doing?

Cookies don’t magically unlock a “better website”.

Cookies mostly do one thing: carry memory forward.

That memory can be useful, it can:

• keep you signed in
• keep items in a cart
• remember a preference you chose.

But it can also be used to create continuity you didn't ask for, cookies can:

• recognise you across visits
• link behaviour across pages
• measure, attribute, and retarget
• enrich your 'profile' over time.

That's why the pop-up exists. Not because the page can't load. Because the site wants to store something that persists.

The Uncomfortable Question

If a website can already adapt to your browser without cookies, then many “necessary cookies” aren’t about necessity — they’re about intent.

So what does the receiver intend to do with the data you’ve handed them?

Sometimes that intent is benign convenience, sometimes it's marketing, sometimes it's surveillance dressed up as 'user experience'.

Most of the time, the user can’t easily see what’s being stored, for how long, or who receives it.

So here's the challenge:

Should a website need to remember you to be useful?

“We use cookies because we have to” is often shorthand for “we want to remember you across visits” — which might be convenient, but isn’t always necessary.

Because "this site uses cookies" isn't a technical fact.

It's a design decision.

Your browser-exposed info (no permission prompts)

Below is the “receipt” — a simple readout of what your browser exposes by default.

No cookies. No storage. No account. No login.

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Can I see your location?

Geolocation is permission-gated and only works in secure contexts, which means your browser requires a HTTPS connection to this website.

When you click the button, your browser will ask if you want to share your location. If you choose a “remember this” option, your browser may save that decision in its site settings. This page still doesn’t set cookies or store your location.

You can revoke the permission any time in your browser’s site settings.

For educational purposes: no cookies, no localStorage/sessionStorage, no analytics, and no third-party scripts or assets loaded automatically. This page is only showing what your browser already exposes to any page you visit on the internet.