Additionally, at the time the “small text files” description appeared, your average computer user was much more familiar with “files” than “data”. Everyone was still mostly using desktop apps and managing their own files in folders and floppy disks, the cloud wasn’t a thing and the web wasn’t really an app platform yet. At the time, I think “data” (the article’s suggested change) would have read as more opaque and technical than “file”.
As an additional data point, this the exact phrasing that ycombinator.com/legal uses:
> A “cookie” is a piece of information sent to your browser by a website you visit. Cookies can be stored on your computer for different periods of time.
