Cookies are small bits of information stored on a users machine. A cookie is machine specific, which means that you won't be able to access cookies created on a different computer. The user must also have cookies (first-party cookies in particular) enabled in the browser. Cookies are enabled in most browsers by default. If cookies are not enabled, consult your browsers help system to find out how to re-enable them.
Although cookies used by STATS Indiana are meant to last indefinitely, there are things that can happen which may cause cookies to be lost. Here are some things that may cause cookies to be deleted: deleteing the browser cache, not using cookies for long periods, visiting many other sites that use cookies, or of course, specificaly deleteing the cookies from your hard drive. Because of their somewhat temporary nature, important data saved on cookies should also be backed up in other ways. For example, if a user creates a large region, it would be advised that he/she also write down the county list elsewhere in case the region would need to be rebuilt. In the future, STATS Indiana plans to provide an automated way to restore lost cookies.
STATS Indiana currently only uses cookies to provide custom region functionality for users, and to compile general usage statistics. In the future STATS may also use them to save other user settings and special features. STATS Indiana does not create or maintain individual user profiles, and will not use cookies to track individual users.