A physical browser add on that notifies the internet user when their security is being compromised. A critical object designed by Nick Tanic and Alizarin Waissberg

Regardless of their cute name, cookies are possibly the worst thing about web browsing. Cookies are basically a spyware, inspecting the user’s online actions. Cookies are commonly used to collect information about the pages the user views and their activities on the site and deliver ads targeted to them. Cookies are the cute little snippet that makes web browser do creepy things.

While some major websites comply with the EU law and notify the user about their cookie usage with a pop up, most websites on the internet access the user’s data without them knowing. The Cookie Alarm is a browser add-on aimed to change that. Using shocking sensory signals, the cookie alarm notifies the user every time a cookie is being installed or updated on their browser.

The Cookie Alarm design is inspired by the structure of the panopticon watch tower to symbolize the type of surveillance that cookies pose: being watched without knowing. It’s main hall houses a motorized, twisting cookie mechanism, lit up by red and blue emergency lighting. The strong visual indication is accompanied with a loud, obnoxious cookie alarm sound. Additionally, the Cookie Alarm switches on a humidifier mechanism spreading an overly-sweet cookie smell. Silly and animated in style, the Cookie Alarm is a fully accessible tool to raise awareness to the security of each and every web user. The comprehensive sensory indications make the Cookie Alarm useful to the massive overlooked audience of users with disabilities.