A website needs somewhere to keep the cart
HTTP does not remember one page request from the next by itself. A store can place a cart identifier in a first-party cookie, keep cart data in local storage, or associate the cart with an account on its own server. When the browser returns that identifier, the store can reconstruct the items you left behind.
The cart may last for one session or for days because cookies can be session-based or persistent, and local storage can remain across browser sessions. A signed-in cart may live mainly in the merchant account, so it can appear on another device after login.
Useful memory and tracking are not the same thing
A store remembering its own cart is usually first-party functionality. The same shopping session can also load analytics, advertising, attribution, or session-replay tools, but their presence is a separate question. A returning cart alone does not prove that the store followed you across unrelated websites.
Look at the scope of the memory. A cart that returns only on the same store is different from third-party ad-tech that receives activity across many sites. Both can involve browser identifiers, but they serve different purposes and deserve different controls.
What clearing cookies or site data changes
Deleting a store's cookies and local site data can remove a guest cart, sign-in state, consent choices, and preferences. It may also make the site less convenient. If the cart is attached to an account or retained on the merchant's server, signing in again can restore it.
Use Chrome's site-specific controls when you want to reset one merchant instead of clearing every site. A separate Chrome profile or Guest session creates a different local browser state, but the merchant may still recognize an account, network, or other browser-visible signals.
What Cloak changes without breaking the cart
Cloak is designed to leave product selection, cart state, authentication, payment, tax, and fraud-prevention requests working. It blocks selected tracker and ad-tech requests, removes common tracking parameters from supported links, reduces selected browser-recognition signals, and records those actions locally.
Cloak does not erase merchant accounts, clear every cookie, or promise that a site will forget a cart. Its receipt shows selected browser-side changes so a useful cart and an unnecessary tracking request are not treated as the same thing.
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