What is the bcookie cookie?
bcookie (browser cookie) is a third-party cookie set by LinkedIn Corporation, typically on the linkedin.com domain or related domains.
It appears on a site whenever the page loads a LinkedIn social plugin (a "Share on LinkedIn" button, a company follow widget), a LinkedIn Ads conversion pixel, or any script that communicates with LinkedIn's servers — even if the visitor has no LinkedIn account or is not logged in.
What data it stores
bcookie stores a unique identifier generated by LinkedIn for that specific browser, used to recognize the same device on later visits across different sites that embed LinkedIn components.
The exact value format is not publicly documented by LinkedIn and may vary; data collected through this identifier is transmitted to LinkedIn's servers for processing.
What it is used for
For LinkedIn, bcookie helps recognize unique browsers for security checks, traffic measurement, and — most notably — building tracking profiles used for targeted advertising (LinkedIn Ads).
For the site owner, this cookie's presence is a side effect of embedding LinkedIn widgets or pixels; it provides no direct functional benefit to the site itself but enables campaign measurement and remarketing.
Does it require consent?
As a tracking cookie used for marketing/advertising purposes, bcookie falls under cookies requiring prior user consent, per Directive 2002/58/EC (ePrivacy, transposed in Romania via Law 506/2004) and GDPR's principles on lawful data processing.
Site owners must: disclose this cookie in their cookie policy, classify it correctly under the marketing category in the consent banner, and prevent it from loading before the visitor gives explicit consent.
How to block or delete bcookie
A visitor can delete or block bcookie through browser settings (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari – per-site cookie management) or via tracker-blocking browser extensions.
- Site owners must block LinkedIn scripts (share buttons, Insight Tag, widgets) until consent is obtained.
- A CMP such as CookieFix can automatically block these scripts and only load them after the visitor accepts the marketing category.
- Without such a site-level blocking mechanism, the cookie is set automatically as soon as the widget loads, which breaches the prior-consent requirement.
Frequently asked questions
It's a tracking cookie LinkedIn uses to uniquely identify a visitor's browser, mainly for advertising and traffic measurement purposes.
It typically lasts around 1 year from the time it is set or last updated.
Yes, since it's used for marketing/tracking purposes, it requires explicit user consent under the ePrivacy rules and GDPR.
It's set automatically by embedded LinkedIn scripts (social buttons, conversion pixels) regardless of whether the visitor is logged in or has a LinkedIn account.